Christine Franek enters her first season as the Auburn women's tennis coach. She joins the Tigers from Wellesley where she served as head coach of the women's tennis team in the previous seven years. Franek coached Wellesley to four-straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Championships (2004-07) and earned two-straight NEWMAC Sportsmanship Awards. In 2008, the team qualified for the NCAA Div. III Championship for a fifth-straight year, advancing to the third round. Franek also coached two individuals to the NCAA Singles/Doubles Championships for the fourth consecutive year. In her career at Wellesley, Franek has earned Coach of the Year honors several times over. Most recently in 2008 she was named ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year for the second time in her career (first in 2006). She was named NEWMAC Coach of the Year four years in-a-row, 2004-07. In 2006 she was also named U.S. Tennis Association New England College Coach of the Year, and in 2005 she was named U.S. Professional Tennis Association New England College Coach of the Year. At Wellesley, where she coached the team to a 119-38 record, Franek also served as the assistant professor of physical education, while teaching courses in tennis, strength training and fusion fitness. Before joining Wellesley, she served as assistant coach at Brown in 1996. A native of East Greenwich, R.I., Franek graduated from Brown University in 1992 with a bachelor of arts in international relations (international diplomacy and foreign policy and German) and earned her master's of education from Harvard in 1997. The 38-year-old was a member of the Brown University varsity women's tennis team from 1988-1992, serving as captain from 1991-1992 and being a part of the 1991 Ivy League Championship team. She was named Outstanding Senior Athlete at Brown in 1992. Franek was inducted into the Rhode Island Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame in May 2004. |
  
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