Elmira Hires Tom Linhart as Head Men’s & Women’s Tennis Coach
Elmira, NY -- Pat Thompson, Elmira College Vice President of Athletics, announced the appointment of Tom Linhart as head men's and women's tennis coach. Linhart takes over the Elmira College tennis programs, both of which reached the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Semifinals this season.
"It's great to welcome Tom Linhart back to the coaching staff at Elmira College" said Thompson. "His head coaching experience over the last six years will transition nicely into our tennis program. He brings new ideas and new energy to a program with great potential."
"First and foremost I would like to thank Pat Thompson and the search committee for the great honor to return to Elmira College and to have the opportunity to build on a very successful program" said Linhart. "I have been following the Elmira College tennis teams since my time there. It is an exciting time to take over a program that has grown leaps and bounds and for the opportunity to coach an amazing group of student-athletes who are driven and really want to succeed. I am looking forward to getting back on campus, getting all of our returning players ready over the summer as well as beginning the recruiting process so that we can continue to build on the great foundation that already exists."
Linhart returns to Elmira College, a place where he began his collegiate coaching career in 2007 when he served as an assistant coach of the men's and women's tennis programs for two years. During that time, Linhart began to build the foundation of Elmira's tennis programs, coaching three players to Empire 8 All-Conference honors, including EC's first conference Rookie of the Year and first E8 All-Conference First Team doubles tandem.
After receiving his Master's degree from Elmira College in 2009, Linhart accepted the head men's and women's tennis coaching job at NCAA Division II institution Lake Superior State University. In six seasons at the helm of both programs, Linhart coached 21 All-GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) honorees, 13 men and eight women. He also coached the 2010 GLIAC Men's Tennis Rookie of the Year.
During his time at Lake Superior State, Linhart guided his team and players to several notable achievements. He recruited and coached six of the university's top-10 winningest female players and three of the top-10 winningest male players in program history. Linhart coached eight players to Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Rankings and led his men's team to a top-10 regional ranking in 2010. Additionally, Linhart's 2011-12 women's team pieced together a program record-setting 16-8 overall record.
Prior to his collegiate coaching days, Linhart was a four-year member of in-conference rival St. John Fisher College's men's tennis team from 2002-06. During his four-year career, Linhart compiled 80 wins and was a five-time Empire 8 All-Conference honoree, earning doubles recognition three times and singles honors twice.
Additional Q&A with Coach Linhart
Q: What are your goals and expectations for the tennis programs?
A: We have a great group of returners and some strong upperclassmen leaders so I expect us to really hit the ground running this next season. Our goals are simple, to be in the top three of the Empire 8 each year, to expand our schedule and play more teams in our region, and to simply work hard and push ourselves to learn each day in practice. We have a great brand at EC and I would love to get that brand out more by involving our alumni, reaching out to the Elmira community, and by getting more players and people on our campus to support our recruiting efforts and increase support for the tennis program. I am really excited and honored to coach such a great group of talented players and am excited to see how they continue to improve over the next couple months.
Q: What's it like for you to come back to a place where you started your coaching career and to be a head coach in the same conference you played in?
A: It is an amazing feeling to return to Elmira as a head coach and to see how things have come full circle. The work ethic I learned at Elmira has really driven me at LSSU and really opened a lot of doors for me as a coach and it is going to be exciting to come back into that atmosphere and build a program that will be successful for years to come. It is going to be interesting to be back coaching in the Empire 8 as the conference has changed since my time as a player at St John Fisher, but that experience is going to pay off as I feel I know what it takes to be a successful player in this conference, as well as what it takes to recruit and compete as a coach in the conference. It will be an advantage to know the lay of the land per say and really compete in the Empire 8 right away.