Milwaukee Names Cromwell New Women's Tennis Coach

MILWAUKEE - Greg Cromwell is the new women's tennis coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Director of Athletics Amanda Braun announced today.

Cromwell comes to Milwaukee after spending the last four years at the head girls' tennis coach at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in Milwaukee. He also works as an assistant professor at Alverno College in Milwaukee.

Cromwell replaces Sean McInerney, who left UWM to become the head coach at Utah State. He also replaced McInerney at Divine Savior when McInerney became the head coach at Milwaukee in 2009 after the two had worked together at DSHA as well as with the men's program at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

"I am really excited and honored to have the opportunity to coach this outstanding Milwaukee women's tennis team," Cromwell said. "Women's tennis at has become an amazing program and I'd like to thank the athletic department for giving me a chance to build upon the phenomenal success started by Sean McInerney. He not only did an awesome job with the Panthers, but was also my coaching mentor at DSHA and is a close friend, as well. I have every intention of continuing Sean's tradition of winning, as I did at DSHA. I had a real passion for that team and promise to bring that same devotion and drive to Panther tennis."

"I was impressed by Greg's passion for coaching, his experience working with young women and his strong ties to the Milwaukee community," Braun said. "Along with his tennis experience, his work in education shows he shares our values of putting students and their experience first. We are excited to welcome Greg to the Panther family and look forward to working with him to build on the success of our tennis program."

Cromwell took over as the head coach of DSHA in 2009, winning four Greater Metro Conference titles and four consecutive sectional championships. DSHA finished second in the state as a team a season ago and he helped the top doubles tandem from DSHA win a state title in both 2009 and 2010.

The Panthers' new head coach posted a 53-9 dual record at DSHA, the best winning percentage for a head coach in the school's WIAA history. During Cromwell's time at DSHA, his team's only losses came against Nicolet (one loss) and Homestead (eight), with DSHA posting a staggering 48-0 record against everyone else it faced.

Cromwell has been a USPTA-certified professional in the Milwaukee area for the past eight years and was also the assistant boys' coach at Nicolet in 2008 for the team that won the North Shore Conference. During his year as an assistant at MSOE, he helped the men's team improve from 5-14 to 14-5.

Plus, since 2007, Cromwell has worked as a teaching pro at the Paley Tennis Center, where he has helped develop many of the state's top juniors.

He takes over a program at Milwaukee that has grown tremendously in the last four seasons under McInerney. The list of recent accomplishments includes a third-place finish in the league a season ago, something that hadn't happened in the previous 15 seasons. The Panthers also claimed 10 league victories over the last two seasons, the most-ever in a two-year span for the program. Also, for the second-straight season, the Panthers tied a school record with 11 wins in a season over Division I foes.

"I think the UWM story is about how accomplishment comes from dedication and hard work, which is really the story of Milwaukee," Cromwell said. "Our goal will be to win the Horizon League and qualify for the NCAA tournament, and I truly believe we can do that soon. I can't wait to work with these great young women, who are not only highly-skilled players but are also highly-motivated people. I also look forward to working with a very successful athletic department and staff and for a great school in a city I love."

Cromwell has his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) and his masters in creative writing from the University of Manchester (UK). He has taught English at Dokkyo University in Japan and has taught tennis overseas in both Ghana, West Africa and in Cape Town, South Africa. He is currently an assistant professor of English in Alverno College.