Brattstrom wins Vredevelt sportsmanship award
April 29, 2002
CLEVELAND -- Christian Brattstrom, a senior on the Western Michigan University men's tennis team, was awarded the Jack Vredevelt Sportmanship award from the Mid-American Conference.
Brattstrom, a native of Helsingborg, Sweden, played mostly out of the No. 3 singles position this season. He finished third on the team with 33 wins. He went 21-15 in singles during the 2001-02 season. Brattstrom ranks No. 32 on WMU's all-time wins list, with 95.
After joining the team as a freshman halfway through the 1998-99 season, Brattstrom earned at least 20 singles wins in each of his final three seasons as a Bronco. He helped Western Michigan win two Mid-American Conference championships and two MAC tournament titles in his career. He joins former Broncos Kyle Gernhofer (2000), Kevin Reed (1998), Dave Gennero (1996), and Kevin Foley (1995) as WMU recipients of the award.
The Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship award is given to the student-athlete judged by their MAC peers as displaying the most outstanding sportsmanship in MAC competition. The award is named in honor of the former WMU player and coach who won MAC singles titles four consecutive years, 1952-55, and was honored as MAC Coach of the Year in 1975, 1981, 1991 and 1996.
Western Michigan finished the season with a 13-13 overall record. WMU went 3-2 in the MAC, good for third place overall. The Broncos were eliminated in the MAC tournament by eventual tournament champion Ball State, 4-3, in the semifinals.
Media contact: Travis McCurdy, 269 387-3221, travis.mccurdy@wmich.edu