Gustavus senior John Kauss became the first Gustie to ever win a national ITA tennis singles title. He dominated the Division III tournament in Mobile, Alabama from October 16th to 18th.

By winning the championship John was named to a USTA collegiate team that will represent the United States in competition against teams from China, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, and Switzerland. Two men from Division 1 and three collegiate women complete an elite team that will travel to Poitiers, France on December 2 for four days of competition. No other Gustavus tennis player has ever been selected for international collegiate play.

The surprises were not limited to singles. John teamed with senior Mike Burdakin to finish second in doubles. In their first match they beat Max Liberty-Point and Ilya Gendelman from the University of California-Santa Cruz 6-1, 6-3. The California team had defeated the defending NCAA III champions in western regional play two weeks earlier. In semifinal action Kauss/Burdakin defeated top seeded Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland from Washington University 5-7, 7-6 (10-5). In the final John and Mike led 5-3 in the first set, but lost 7-6, 6-1 to Mike and Chris Goodwin from Emory University.

The first place finish in singles and the second place finish in doubles is the best-combined record in Gustavus history at a national ITA tournament. Since 1986 Gustavus has won two doubles titles- Eric Butorac and Kevin Whipple in 2001 and 2002. Previous second place finishes included Todd Bowlby in singles in 1996, Todd and Ryan Dussault in doubles in 1997, Loren Collins in singles in 2005, and Andy Bryan in singles in 2007.

John and Mike's accomplishments are remarkable. Before college John never advanced beyond the first round of the Minnesota state high school tournament. He did not make the Gustavus top six until his sophomore year, but his development in the last two years exceeded expectations. The same is true for the Kauss/Burdakin team, which was formed last year. They played #2 doubles in 2008 behind NCAA III finalists Charlie Paukert and Andy Bryan. Kauss/Burdakin went unnoticed in last season's final regional and national rankings, but that will not be the case this year.