Conor Holton-Burke

Coach’s Corner – What do you get when you throw in a little Ironman, mix in Prof X, add a generous portion of tennis passion, and mix thoroughly? Whitman’s own CoCo (Conor)! Words can’t describe what he has meant to the Whitman tennis program and his legacy to the “family” will know no bounds. Like Prof X, he is the leader of our team — he drives each and every player on the team to be better and helps them to reach their full potential. Like Prof X he a scholar and student of many diverse interests. As a biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology major, CoCo is one of the top students at Whitman. Because of his nearly perfect GPA, classwork, leadership, athletic ability, and foreign language fluency Conor was inducted in the Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. When traveling on tennis trips, CoCo can often be found studying or reading classic works of literature.

Like Ironman, Conor is made of some tough stuff. He is without a doubt the most physically fit player I have ever coached. In fact he may be the most fit athlete in all of college tennis. Part of our conditioning routine is running an interval test called the “beep test”. This is a VERY demanding test to exhaustion. Conor is the only person I know to have finished the entire test!

Through hard work and dedication Conor has shown incredible tennis improvement. He came to Whitman with virtually no USTA match experience. During his freshman year at Whitman when he played it was mostly in the bottom of the line-up. Fast forward a couple years and Conor is now a two-time All-American and nationally ranked in both singles and doubles. In a sport dominated by junior rankings, it is refreshing to see an individual like Conor continue to improve to become one of the best players in the nation. It is also refreshing to see him share his passion for tennis and inspire his teammates to become better players and people.

Every coach has a dream…mine is that Conor never graduates!

Official Whitman Profile

Junior season (2010-11) - Named Northwest Conference Player of Year after leading Whitman to fourth straight NWC championship … Named NWC Student-Athlete of Week twice during spring season … Named “Most Outanding Performer” in Whitman’s junior class in voting by school’s coaching staff … Only player in NWC to go undefeated at No. 1 singles during conference season … Teamed with freshman Andrew La Cava at No. 1 doubles for 9-1 record against NWC foes … Also teamed with La Cava during Spring Break for impressive 8-2 doubles victory over Trinity seniors Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal, the runners-up at previous year’s NCAA Division III national doubles championship … That doubles victory helped Whitman notch a 5-4 triumph over Trinity, ranked No. 9 nationally at the time … Contributed wins in singles and doubles to a 6-3 Spring Break victory over Swarthmore … Earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American honors in the fall by winning Pacific Northwest regional doubles title (with La Cava); they rolled past Whitman teammates Chris Bailey and Sam Sadeghi in the doubles final … Holton-Burke lost 7-5, 7-5 to La Cava in the regional singles semifinals … After winning their regional doubles title, Holton-Burke and La Cava lost 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (10-8), 1-0 (10-6) to Trinity’s Cocanougher and Kowal at the National Small Championships in Mobile, Ala. … Holton-Burke’s dominant junior season came after he spent the summer of 2010 in full-time tennis training in San Diego.

Sophomore season (2009-10) - Posted 10-1 doubles record (8-1 NWC) during spring dual match season … Was 8-5 in singles (5-1 NWC) … Won at No. 3 doubles (with Jeff Tolman) and No. 6 singles as Whitman cruised past Willamette 5-1 for third straight NWC championship … Rallied for three-set win at No. 6 singles to score clinching fifth team point in 6-3 Spring Break victory over Pomona-Pitzer … Tallied two team points in 6-3 loss to defending NCAA Division III champion UC-Santa Cruz, winning in three sets at No. 5 singles and joining Nadeem Kassam for 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles …Teamed with Quin Miller to make doubles semifinals of regional ITA fall tournament; also made quarterfinals in singles before losing to teammate Matt Solomom.

Freshman season (2008-09) - Enjoyed undefeated rookie season, posting records of 10-0 (7-0 NWC) in singles and 8-0 (5-0 NWC) in doubles during spring season … Played most of his singles matches in lower half of line-up … Played most of his doubles matches at No. 2 and No. 3 slots … Contributed wins in singles and doubles to Spring Break victories over Oberlin, St. Thomas and Westminster.

Prep - Played tennis at Fairview High, helping the Knights finish second at Colorado’s Class 5A state tournament as a senior.

Academics - Pursuing mathematics minor in addition to biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology major … Only member of his Whitman class elected as a junior to national academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa … One of 10 juniors who served as commencement marshals at Whitman commencement ceremonies in May 2011 … Honored at end of his sophomore and junior years for having one of the five highest grade point averages among all varsity athletes at Whitman … Hopes to base senior thesis on his laboratory research (summer 2011) into development of small-molecule cancer-fighting drugs aimed at preventing degradation of tumor-suppressing proteins … Works as chemistry tutor for Whitman’s Academic Resource Center … Plans to delay graduate school studies for one year, possibly to pursue life-long goal of earning ATP world tennis ranking by winning at least one match on the Futures Tour … Undecided between medical school and Ph.D. program in chemistry … Teaching college-level chemistry while coaching tennis is one career possibility … Older brother Johnny currently in medical school at St. George’s University in New Castle, England, and Grenada, West Indies.

Personal - Son of Pat Burke and Nancy Holton … Father played rugby and golf at Regis University … Has three older siblings — sister Maggie and brothers Matt and Johnny … Brother Matt played four seasons of varsity tennis at Catholic University in Washington D.C. … Serves as philantrophy chair for Phi Delta Theta fraternity … Enjoys playing basketball as hobby.