Wake Forest Athletics
Heinchon Named Region II Assistant Coach Of The Year
5/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 13, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Wake Forest men's tennis assistant coach, Shawn Heinchon was selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as the Region II Assistant Coach of the Year. The ITA divides all the NCAA Division I men's tennis teams into eight regions. Heinchon is now eligible for the National Assistant Coach of the Year Award, which will be announced May 23.
Heinchon is in his fourth year as assistant coach at Wake Forest, all four under head coach Jeff Zinn. The Demon Deacons have improved every year that Heinchon has been on board, culminating this season with a 17-6 record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Only the third time Wake Forest has played in the NCAA Tournament, and second consecutive NCAA appearance. Wake Forest finished third in the ACC with a 6-2 mark in league play, which ties for the most conference wins in school history. The Demon Deacons were ranked in the top-20 for the first time ever this season and led the conference with four All-ACC selections. Wake also had true freshman Derrick Spice earn ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
Wake Forest's number one player, David Loewenthal, has been ranked as high as 24th in singles and 27th in doubles this season and has been selected to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship May 22-26 in College Station, Texas. Heinchon accompanied Loewenthal to the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships this past fall, where Loewenthal advanced to the quarterfinals in singles play.
"He is a real student of the game," said Wake Forest head coach, Jeff Zinn about Heinchon. "He is very good technically and understands the game of tennis in all of its finer points. He enjoys the camaraderie of the team and seeing each and every one of the players improving their games in some capacity."
Handling travel arrangements, budget concerns, practice schedules and assisting with practice plans and recruiting as assistant coach, Heinchon has coached six All-ACC selections and six conference flight champions in his four years at Wake Forest. An extremely organized, knowledgeable and personable figure in the tennis world, Heinchon has organized several tournaments in his time at Wake Forest, including the ACC Indoor Tournament every January, the Southeastern Intercollegiate Championships in the fall and the massive USTA Boys and Girls 16s Southeast Zonal Championships in the summers that take over nearly every tennis court in the city of Winston-Salem.
