May 23, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins men's tennis senior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) earned CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District honors for District II. The senior is an economics major with a 3.62 GPA. Vasoontara earned second team honors in 2007 and is just the second player in program history to earn all-district honors twice.
As a first team selection, Vasoontara will now be included on the Academic All-America ballot, scheduled to be released June 10. The District II region includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade point average and be a starter or significant reserve.
Vasoontara posted an 11-9 singles record and an 18-7 doubles record this season as he helped Johns Hopkins to its second straight Centennial Conference title and third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Currently ranked third in the Atlantic South region, he participated in the NCAA Doubles Championship with freshman Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier). The pair suffered a three-set first round loss to the second-seeded team.
Vasoontara is a four-time First Team All-Centennial Conference selection in both singles and doubles. He holds the school records for doubles wins (59) and total wins (106) and was the first tennis player in Johns Hopkins history (male or female) to surpass 100 career wins.
A native of Thailand, Vasoontara returned to his homeland following the devastating tsunami in December of 2004 to assist in the relief effort. He volunteered as an English translator for foreign tourists injured in the tsunami and as the Vice President of the JHU THAIs Club, organized a fundraiser that generated over $1,000 to help the victims. Vasoontara is a research assistant in the Department of Pathology as well as a Unit Volunteer in the Department of Radiation. He is also the recipient of the Provost Undergraduate Research Award Grant.
