Chillin' in Chile

Submitted by Julie Christensen Class of 2013

Liz and I took off on May 29 and a short 30 hours later arrived in the house of Valentina Valdes in the desert of northern Chile. Valentina was an exchange student with my family last year, so her family welcomed Liz and I into their home for a couple weeks. We ate meals with the family, went to school with Vali, and played soccer with her little brother. We also ventured to San Pedro, another desert town, where we went sandboarding!

Later in the week we spent time in Antofagasta, which is on the coast of the Pacific. There we got hair wraps, of course, and did some shopping. After two weeks in the desert, we flew down to Santiago, the capital. A typical large city, with subways, shopping malls, and high rises, Santiago is full of life. I managed to get my wallet stolen right out of my pocket while on the subway, so Liz and I did end up in the Chilean jail after all. We knew it was bound to happen somehow!

And our last few days consisted of a trip to Valparaiso to visit Vali's older brother who is studying in a beautiful school on the ocean-side. We did the most touristy thing, a horse-drawn carriage ride, in Valparaiso and had some fun times on the beach. The next day we boarded a plane yet again and finally headed home for summer.

Can't wait for next season! Miss you all!

Julie

#6 and counting...

It was about a year ago that I wrote about John & Carl's narrow defeat in the hands of the Gordon and Scott Davis at the National Father-Son tournament in Newport Beach, CA. Well, this time, I'm bringing you the news of them avenging that loss with an impressive 6-3, 7-5 triumph over the same pair in the same tournament!! Below is a picture of the two pairs from the awards ceremony. For complete results from the event check here.

In other OC coaching playing news, coaches Ananiadis and Shoemaker teamed up and participated in the prestigious Louisville Boat Club Men's Doubles Invitational this past weekend. After dispatching of Boardman and Rueff in the round of 16, Ananiadis and Shoemaker bowed out in the quarters to the #1 seeded team of Chad Dyer and Jeff Hechemy by a score of 6-3, 6-4 in a two-hour plus marathon. The pair has vowed to return to the event next year and come home with the trophy, learning from this year's defeat much like John and Carl did!

Hosting nationals

As a lot of you know, Oberlin had the privilege of hosting the 2010 D-III Men's Tennis National Championships a few weeks ago. The event ran very smoothly and all of the coaches and participants were complimentary of our awesome facilities and very helpful staff. We were also fortunate to have great weather (no rain and temps into the 80's!) so that helped things a lot. Ariel & Finley stayed on campus and volunteered their time and helped with set-up and break down, reporting scores for the Live Stats, and other odds & ends.

The Hunsinger courts have never looked better and were all "dressed up" with banners, flowers, extra bleachers, etc. Here's a quick video:

Hands down, the spirit award goes to North Central College from Illinois who travelled with lots of (loud) fans, their own TV/video crew, and even their school mascot! Check this out: