| Fifty years ago this spring Groveport Madison High School fielded its first tennis team. The team played and practiced on the two asphalt tennis courts that once sat behind Groveport Elementary School. These tennis courts, which also doubled as outdoor basketball courts, are now the lower parking lot at Groveport Elementary. According to the 1958 Madisonian yearbook, the team played only four matches in its first season having two matches each against Academy and St. Charles high schools. The team also participated in the district tournament. The squad must have had a rocky first season as a note in the yearbook reads, "Next year we hope to have a better team because the team will be better organized and more experienced." The 1958 Cruiser tennis team members pictured here were, from left to right: (first row) Mickey Sims, Bob Nelson, Dwayne Spence; (second row) Bob Graham, Jim Pease, David Kulich, Rodney Storts, Bob Newport, Coach Miller; (third row) Floyd Upperman, Bill Huiss, Richard Knodel, Eddie Gilkey, Don Miller, John Nicholson, and David Krupick. (On a related note, 1957-58 was also the first year Groveport Madison had a wrestling team, which held matches against Grove City and Marion-Franklin. Those first wrestlers, who were led by Coach Johnston, were Dwayne Spence, Wes Hamler, Rodney Storts, Allen Raduege, Eddie Reed, and Larry Middleton.) |
