(Posted August 24, 2004)

Huntingdon, PA - Bobby Pennington, a regular in the central Pennsylvania tennis scene for a number of years has been named the head coach of the Juniata College women's and men's tennis teams according to Juniata director of athletics Larry Bock.

"We are extremely pleased to have Bobby joining our staff," Bock stated. "He brings an outstanding resume as both a player and a coach to our program, and he has a strong roots in this area. I'm confident he will be a big benefit to our student-athletes and the Juniata tennis programs."

A 1997 graduate of Altoona High School, Pennington has spent the past two seasons as the women's assistant tennis coach at Clarion University. He has also worked as the head tennis pro at the Toftrees Resort and Conference Center in State College for two years. Along with his new position as tennis coach, he will also be working as the assistant director of annual giving in the Juniata College development department.

"I'm very excited to have the chance to work with both the women's and men's programs here at Juniata," Pennington stated. "There is certainly some work to be done here but I'm very optimistic for the future of Juniata tennis. I see strong things ahead for the Juniata tennis program."

Pennington was a decorated scholastic player at Altoona Area High School, including earning the District 6 Championship and posting an undefeated record in his senior year. He advanced to the PIAA State Championships three years at Altoona, and also claimed five gold medals at the Keystone State Games.

After leaving Altoona, he attended Division III men's tennis power Kalamazoo College (Mi.) where he helped the team to a third-place finish in NCAA Division III as a freshman. He helped clinch the team's third-place finish by claiming a doubles victory. He played four years at Kalamazoo and was tabbed the team captain as a senior. He was a doubles finalist at the Midwest Rolex Championships and was ranked in the top 20 nationally as a doubles player.

Since graduating from Kalamazoo Pennington has coached at a number of locations, including one year as the boys and girls coach at Hollidaysburg High School. During his one season as mentor at Hollidaysburg, the team claimed its first-ever District 6 team championship. He is a certified USPTR Professional Instructor which he earned in 2001 and worked to develop a tennis program for elementary students in central Pennsylvania in the winter of 2002.

He recently earned a Masters Degree in Communications and Mass Media Technology from Clarion University.

Pennington will inherit a Juniata team that posted a record of 4-9 in 2003. The Eagles will open competition on September 4 when they play at conference foe Lebanon Valley.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.