All-American honors given to local trio

Carsten Ball and Wesley Miller, who will both be seniors at Corona

del Mar High this fall, along with Newport Beach resident Kaes Van’t

Hof, have all been named to the National High School Tennis

All-American Foundation team.

The trio was among 40 players selected to the team by a panel of

eight national district chairmen, recognized as the top high school

coaches in the nation.

To become an All-American, one must compete on a high school team,

maintain an above average academic and citizenship standing and

achieve a national individual ranking. To achieve that ranking, the

player must compete sectionally, regionally and nationally in United

States Tennis Association sanctioned tournaments throughout the year.

Players are awarded points at selected tournaments, which count

toward their USTA national ranking. Certain tournaments, such as the

Easter Bowl in April, offer more possible points than others.

Van’t Hof, who has gone 54-15 in singles this year, is ranked

fifth (1,925 points) in the USTA boys 18s while Ball (58-14) is sixth

(1,860 points). Van’t Hof, who will attend USC in the fall, won the

CIF Southern Section individual boys tennis title in May.

Ball has won four times this year, including the USTA national

open in El Paso, Texas, in May, which gave him 330 points.

Miller is ranked 83rd in USTA boys 18s, having earned 795 points

this year. He reached the semifinals of the South Bay/Woody Hunt

Memorial tournament in February and the quarterfinals in the

interscholastic championships in April.

Treat Huey from Alexandria, Va., with 2,500 points, is ranked

first and was also named to the All-American team.

Another national ranking system independent of the USTA that

factors in head-to-head matchups has Ball at No. 21 and Van’t Hof at

26th in boys 18s. That same system has Ball second, Van’t Hof third

and Miller 24th in Southern California.

All-American awards are presented to the top boys and girls in the

nation, with the majority of them going on to compete at the

collegiate and professional level. Past All-Americans include Pete

Sampras, Todd Martin, Aaron Krickstein and Jeff Tarango.

Each All-American player and school receive a certificate and

plaque representing the importance of team play on a high school

squad, thus promoting the sport nationally and assisting players to

gain the recognition of college coaches.

Corona del Mar hosts the annual All-American invitational that

draws teams from across the nation in a two-day tournament.