ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jacqueline Nicholson announced Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach Tom Linhart will be stepping away from the program at the conclusion of the spring season.
Linhart concludes a coaching career at RIT that spanned two stints beginning from 2017-20 and, after a brief departure, he returned to lead both programs in February of 2022.
"Coach Linhart has been a dedicated leader for our tennis programs," said Nicholson. "He focused on the recruitment of student-athletes who excelled both in the classroom and on the court. We thank him for his service to the university and wish him the best."
Linhart has sophomores Yu Tanimoto and Alexander Sinclair on the verge of becoming the first Tigers to qualify for the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships. Tanimoto owns a 19-4 record this spring and is currently the top-ranked singles player in the latest Region II rankings, while Tanimoto and Sinclair also sit atop the regional doubles rankings (15-3) with the national field to be announced later this week.
Last season, Linhart led the men's team to nine wins, including a Liberty League Tournament victory over Ithaca, while the women's team finished with six. Tanimoto was named Liberty League Men's Rookie of the Year, while Emily Greb and Maya McDaniel earned All-Liberty League honors on the women's side. Kira Kronenberg also set a program record with 19 wins and finished her rookie year ranked in the top 40 of Division III.
Along with Kronenberg, Linhart has coached the three women's players who compiled the most single season wins. During his first season with the team, he coached Kristen Zablonski to a program-record 14 dual wins, later surpassed by Claire Casalnova, who set a record with 15 victories during the 2018-19 season.
In the 2018-19 season, Linhart tied a 36-year program record by guiding the women's team to 13 wins. RIT earned its first wins over St. Lawrence, Ithaca, and RPI during that campaign, propelling the Tigers to their first appearance in the Liberty League semifinals. Shayna Ginster and Amelia Young also set a doubles record with 14 wins during the campaign.
Prior to joining RIT, Linhart served as the head coach at Elmira College and Lake Superior State University. He is a United States Tennis Association (USTA) Elite Professional and a graduate of St. John Fisher University, where he recorded 80 career victories as a student-athlete.
RIT will conduct a national search to name a successor for both the men's and women's programs in the coming months.
TENNIS COACH TOM LINHART
"First and foremost, I want to thank all the student athletes, both past and present, who donned the Tiger Orange during my eight years. The tennis student athletes at RIT have been, and continue to be, a truly special group that I have been honored and privileged to coach and mentor. Though my time has come to move on from RIT Tennis, I am excited to see the amazing things this program will continue to do, and I cannot wait to be on the sidelines as their number one fan and supporter. RIT is a special and unique community that everyone who is lucky enough to experience can attest to. In my 20 years of college coaching, RIT has been the most memorable and I am grateful to the student athletes, administrators, and fellow coaches who supported and believed in me. Let's go Tech!"
