DAVE EDWARDS, Tennis Director

USPTA Certified Tennis Professional, sponsored by Nike and Babolat.  Dave attended Southwest Texas State University on a tennis Scholarship and was Captain of the TSU Tennis Team for two years.  Following college, he toured the country for a year playing in semi-pro tournaments.  His first tennis coaching job was at John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas.  In 1982, Dave took a Head Tennis Pro position in Anchorage, Alaska where he worked for three years.  In 1986 Dave made his final move here to West Hills and for 25 years has been the Tennis Director.  In that time he has been ranked in the Top 10 for Open players and ranked number one in both 35 singles and doubles.  Dave has coached many high school state champions and nationally ranked juniors.  In addition, he has helped many kids go on to play at the collegiate level.   dave.edwards@whrfc.com

TOBY KRAUEL

Along with being an excellent pro for all of our WHRFC members Toby is the head men’s coach at Willamette University.  He previously was the head coach at Gonzaga University for seven years and was an assistant coach at the  University of Portland for one year.  Krauel graduated from the University of Portland in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.  He also holds a law degree at Lewis & Clark College.  He played tennis as an undergraduate and achieved the West Coach Conference Scholar-Athlete Award in 1988-89 and 1989-90.  He was Portland’s Most Inspirational Tennis Player three times.  As a coach at Gonzaga, he built a competitive team after taking over a program that was struggling prior to his arrival.     toby.krauel@whrfc.com

OWEN SUAGEE

Owen Suagee is originally from Omak, Washington and was an avid tennis player all through high school and has several state championship titles to his credit. As are all West Hills tennis pros, he is USPTA certified.  After spending a year on tennis scholarship at Eastern Washington University, Owen transferred to Linfield College where he continued his tennis career.  At Linfield he was  team captain and 1^stteam all conference.  Along with teaching at West Hills Owen is the assistant men’s tennis coach at Willamette University.  When Owen isn’t teaching or coaching he enjoys playing recreational tennis – his 5.0 mixed doubles team took second place in Nationals in 2008, and you can often see him on a USTA team at West Hills. When Owen is looking for a break from tennis you can find him on the golf course.     owen.suagee@whrfc.com

MARGOT CHARLTON

Margot grew up in Tacoma, Washington where she helped lead her high school tennis team to two state championships.  She graduated with a bachelors of science degree from University of Oregon and played on the ladies’ tennis team.  Prior to starting her family she was a retail executive with Lady Footlocker.  Along with being a full time mom, Margot has been working at West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club since 1999- from assisting the tennis department with tournaments and administrative duties to managing the pro shop.  Most recently, she was working for the non-profit organization PASTE – Portland After School Tennis and Education as the High School Academy Director.  She has retired her position after 3 years and is back teaching tennis at West Hills.   margot.charlton@whrfc.com

NICK RUESS

Nick is a USPTA certified tennis professional and has been teaching for many years – most recently at Portland Tennis Center and The Irvington Tennis Club before coming to West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club.  While at Grant High School, Nick captured the 2005 boys State Championship as well as captained his team. Nick graduated from Linfield College with a Bachelor of Science in both secondary education and coaching.  Out of the four years Nick played at Linfield he was All-Conference two years in a row.  He was also team captain.  Nick has coached the Grant High School boys tennis team for the last two years, is the assistant director of World Team Tennis in the Portland area and sits on the Board of Directors for the Greater Portland Tennis Council.  He still loves to compete in open tournaments and on his 5.0 USTA team.     nick.ruess@whrfc.com