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Hawk Hall of Famer Al Laveson, the dean of coaches at Saint Joseph's University, is the winningest coach in the history of the school. The 1953 Temple grad compiled a 480-533 record in 44 seasons with the men's tennis team (304-341) and 26 seasons with the women (176-192). His coaching tenure at Saint Joseph's is the longest in school history. The long-time coach helped lead a resurgence for the men's tennis team in the mid-2000s. In 2002-03, the Hawks tied a school record with 15 wins and recorded a then best-ever showing at the Atlantic 10 Championships, placing fifth. Laveson upgraded the schedule to include several nationally-ranked teams and SJU bettered its A-10 performance with a fourth place finish in 2004. In 2006, the team earned its highest-ever A-10 seed (third) and the squad placed 12th at the ECAC Championships. Laveson, who was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001, was the first Hawk mentor to reach 400 career wins with a men's tennis victory over Towson in the fall of 2002. He became only the second Hawk coach to reach the 300-win plateau in 1994, joining the legendary Bill Ferguson, who guided the Hawk basketball team to 309 victories over 25 years. Laveson became the SJU coach with the most wins. Captain of the Temple tennis team as a collegiate player, Laveson has been teaching professionally for the United States Professional Tennis Association for the past 42 years. He is also a past vice president of the organization. Laveson retired from his full-time teaching position at Central High School in Philadelphia just before the 1994 season. Prior to his arrival at Central in 1987, he taught for 33 years at Penn Treaty Junior High School. Besides coaching at Saint Joseph's, Laveson coached the boys' tennis team at Father Judge High School for two years in the early 1960s. He won City Championships in badminton and tennis at Central, along with a gymnastics title while at Penn Treaty. Laveson also coached girls' field hockey at Central. Laveson, who resides in Philadelphia, is the father of three sons, Bob, Dave, and Peter. The two eldest were both Saint Joseph's tennis team captains under their father. |
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