Hartford, Conn., May 29 - Trinity College freshman Richard Lawrence (Toronto, Ontario) was selected as the 2000-01 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III National Men’s Tennis Rookie of the Year.

The Bantams, coached by Paul Assassinate, finished the 2000-01 season with a 14-5 record and finished second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament. Trinity qualified for its third straight NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, advancing to the second round with a 5-1 win over Bates, but lost, 5-2, against MIT in their second match.

Lawrence, who finished 16-1 in dual matches and 22-4 overall as a singles player for the Bantams, was also selected as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, to the All-NESCAC first team, to the Rolex/ITA All-American team, and as the ITA Division III Northeast Region Rookie of the Year. He ended the 2000-01 campaign as the No. 17-ranked Division III singles player in the nation. Lawrence qualified for the NCAA Division III Singles Championship, losing in three sets to the tourney’s No.1 seed in the opening round.

Playing with Bantam senior co-captain Rostyslav Orach (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to form the No. 4-ranked doubles team in Division III, Lawrence posted a 15-2 dual record and a 25-4 overall mark in doubles this season. They won the Rolex/ITA Division III Regional Championship this fall and dropped a three-set match in the Rolex/ITA Division III National Championship final. The tandem also qualified for the 2000-01 NCAA Division III Doubles Championships, advancing to the quarterfinal round.