JOHN GALLAGHER
SPORTS EDITOR
Luke Conrad is a freshman computer science major and one of the most recent additions to the men’s tennis team. He picked up the sport when he was 10 years old because his mother registered him and his siblings for tennis lessons, he said. “She thought we needed to play something other than baseball,” said Conrad.
Joining a men’s tennis squad that seeks to repeat as AMCC champions, Conrad hopes to contribute where he can. “I’m hoping to make the lineup,” he admitted, adding that he aims to “be the most helpful I can be, so we can make it further than we’ve ever been in the NCAAs.”
Only a few matches in to the unofficial fall season, Conrad said he already notices a difference between high school and college tennis. “It feels like a bigger stage,” he said. “I feel much more responsible for the way I perform on the court in college. I feel like I owe it to the team to succeed.”
Out of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Conrad enjoys the sport for its mental aspect. The capacity to “win without brute force,” he said, is what makes tennis so attractive. “I can really think my way through it. There’s so much room for improvement,” said Conrad.
Together with a lineup as deep as it’s ever been, Conrad acknowledged the benefit of new fitness coach John Chatlak. “Coach takes a cool, calm and collected approach to the season, and it’s showed dividends” said Conrad. “He plays a classic style of tennis, and he’s teaching the guys how to improve the little things.”
Among a new assistant coach and a new lineup, this new Baron looks to count himself among the ranks of those who compete not only for AMCC hardware but for the perpetuity of the university’s mission: the delivery of joyful disciples to the world at large.