From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University Head Men's Tennis Coach Todd Wojtkowski has been named the Wilson/ Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Men's National Coach of the Year, following the team's unprecedented success during the 2021 season.
The Wilson/ ITA Coach of the Year Award honors a coach who has exhibited outstanding leadership in ways that contribute to on and off-court team performance. The honor comes a day after Wojtkowski was named the Wilson/ ITA Central Region Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
"The accomplishments of the team under Coach Wojtkowski's leadership continue to cast a positive light on the athletic department and the University as a whole," said CWRU James C. Wyant Director of Athletics Amy Backus. "The success over the last few months have been unprecedented in the history of Case Western Reserve University and are a direct result of the values that he has instilled in the squad – hard work, passion, and dedication."
In 2021, Wojtkowski led the Spartans to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Championships, battling through the adversity caused by a pandemic-shortened season to guide the team to the highest-ever finish by a CWRU team at an NCAA Championship event. Prior to this season, no Spartan team in any sport had advanced past the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. Case Western Reserve finished the year with a 14-3 overall record, with the team's only Division III loss of the campaign coming in the National Championship match. The Spartans ended the year ranked second in Division III and first in the Central Region.
Wojtkowski went on to coach both sophomore James Hopper and senior Matthew Chen to All-America honors in 2021. Hopper and Chen reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Doubles Championships and finished the campaign as the third-ranked doubles pairing in Division III, while Hopper also reached the quarterfinals of the singles draw, and was ranked sixth among Division III singles players.
In addition to the team's success on the court, Wojtkowski also oversaw one of the top teams academically in the country in 2021. The Spartans finished the 2020-21 academic year with an outstanding 3.883 grade point average as a team, including a 3.928 in the spring. Each of the 19 members of the team earned ITA Scholar-Athlete awards, while the team received an ITA Academic Award.
Having recently completed his 13th season at CWRU, Wojtkowski has helped build the Spartan men's tennis program into one of the top teams in Division III during his time at the team's helm. The Spartans hold a 220-104 record during his 13 seasons, good for a .679 winning percentage, and he has led the team to four NCAA Championship appearances. Wojtkowski has coached five different Spartan players to 16 total all-America honors, with former Spartans C.J. Krimbill and Eric Klawitter winning the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship in 2014, and Hopper and Chen claiming the doubles title at the 2019 Fall ITA Cup.