Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team

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Men's Tennis 5/25/2017 11:54:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Tennis Student-Athletes Visit Hometown School

AMHERST, N.Y. - On Wednesday, May 17, three student-athletes from the Daemen College men's and women's tennis teams - John LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y.North Tonawanda), Gretchen Ringler (North Tonawanda, N.Y.North Tonawanda) and Jessica Robins (North Tonawanda, N.Y.North Tonawanda) - returned to their hometown of North Tonawanda to visit students at Meadow Elementary School.

While there, the Daemen student-athletes spoke to fifth grade students about their own experiences growing up and attending schools in the City of North Tonawanda, and how they went on to achieve their respective goals including becoming collegiate student-athletes. LeMar, Ringler and Robins all discussed the importance of setting goals, maintaining a good grade-point-average and the work ethic it takes to be successful as both a student and athlete.

"We make community service a priority amongst our student-athletes, and it was great to see John, Gretchen and Jess return to their hometown and talk about the things that have made them successful both on and off the tennis court," said head men's and women's tennis coach Stephen Beatty who accompanied the student-athletes to the school. "As most of our community service projects, I felt that it was a mutually beneficial experience. It's important for kids to have role models who come directly from their own community, and it's important for our student-athletes to understand the kind of impact they can have when returning to their hometowns."

The visit by Daemen's student-athletes was planned by Mame Yaa Ankoma-Mensa, student-athlete success and community engagement coordinator, in collaboration with Meadow Elementary School officials. It comes on the heels of both the Daemen men's and women's tennis teams being named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Community Service Award recipients for the East Region of NCAA Division II which was announced earlier this month.

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Players Mentioned

John LeMar: 5' 10"; Senior

Gretchen Ringler: 5' 5"; Junior

Jessica Robins: 5' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

John LeMar
: 5' 10"; Senior

Gretchen Ringler
: 5' 5"; Junior

Jessica Robins
: 5' 0"; Sophomore