Reginald E. Rutledge, Jr. ’51

At Episcopal, Mr. Rutledge began his career as a stand-out tennis player. He captained the undefeated 1950 tennis team, which won both the Virginia State and Southern Prep Schools championships and still stands as the last undefeated tennis team at EHS. Mr. Rutledge defeated three nationally ranked players that year, including the reigning Eastern Junior Champion and the Alabama State Champion.
As a senior, he co-captained the 1951 tennis team and rose to a national high school ranking of No. 5. Mr. Rutledge reached the round of 16 at the National Junior Hard Court Championships before losing to America’s No. 1 junior player. He received the George Edmund Bradfield Award for Tennis in both his junior and senior years. Off the court, he served as a Monitor.
Mr. Rutledge captained the University of Virginia’s tennis team and was the university’s No. 1 tennis player for three years. In 1953, he won the Orange Bowl Doubles Championship – College Division. He defeated the University of Florida’s No. 1 player and the Southwestern Conference Champion (from the University of Texas) in the NCAA Championship before bowing to the team captain from the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has remained active in the sport and has been a ranked player in his age group for most of his life. He currently holds an Eastern Tennis Association ranking in the 75-and-over division.
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