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Ackerman gets top rookie honors
Dylan Ackerman returns a shot during one of his games in the NCAA Division III in his rookie season for the Norwich University. (Norwich University Photo)
Former CNMI junior tennis player Dylan Ackerman had an outstanding freshman season with Norwich University in the NCAA Division III.
The 19-year-old was named Rookie of the Year in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, besting several freshmen from six other schools in the GNAC. With this recognition, Ackerman became only the third Norwich player to win ROY honors and the first in six years. Steve Couture was the first Cadet to take the GNAC Rookie of the Year in 2000, while Fritz Kaelber was the second one, getting the same plum 10 years later.
The Saipan Southern High School graduate earned the ROY trophy after winning a record five Rookie of the Week awards this season. He topped the weekly competition for four straight times, beginning in early March before bagging his fifth in late April.
He received the coveted Rookie of the Year award last week (May 10), joining his two other veteran teammates in the league’s postseason recognition. Ackerman also made it to the GNAC Second Team All-Conference, while his fellow Cadets and seniors Ian Hyte and Jay Carter were named to the GNAC First Team All-Conference.
Ackerman plays No. 2 singles for Norwich University, a private military school in Vermont and competes in the North Division of the GNAC. He posted a 7-3 record in his rookie season and teamed up with Hyte at No. 2 doubles, having a 6-4 mark in the competition.
Before suiting up for the Cadets, Ackerman played for the CNMI Junior National Team and saw action in the North Pacific Regional Championships and the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships. He also joined the 2013 Northern Marianas Open Junior Championships—a world ranking tournament under the Junior ITF Circuit—and represented the Commonwealth in the 2014 Oceania Cross Country Championships.
Ackerman joins Thea Minor (Henderson State University), Mikayla Lopez (New Mexico Military Institute), Amami Sakano (University of Hawaii-Hilo), and Chris Cajigan (University of Hawaii-Manoa) to the growing list of former CNMI junior players who are now playing in the collegiate ranks.
