General S.L.
Shofner
Male
United States of America
0000-00-00
, -


About

S. L. Shofner can best be described as a natural athlete. He first started playing tennis in his senior year of high school. He then went to Central State University in Edmond where he played four years of tennis. He won three conference singles titles and in 1955 he became Central State's first ever National Singles Champion. Not bad for a young man who went to college on a basketball scholarship and played semi-pro basketball for three years after graduation.

He was ranked # 1 in both Oklahoma and the Missouri Valley in Men's 35 and 45 Singles and Doubles over a 12 year period. In 1969, he won the National Men's 35 Indoor Championships in Singles and Doubles with Ollie Gresham. In 1970, he was nationally ranked # 1 in Men's 35 Singles and # 2 in Doubles. He also won tournaments in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas. He continued to play competitively until a degenerative hip, followed by hip replacement surgery, forced him to hang up his racket.

S. L. is a member of the Central State University (now the University of Central Oklahoma) Athletic Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Missouri Valley Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 1998. He is one of the five original members of the Oklahoma Tennis Hall of Fame.



Media


Archive statistics 1953 - 1973
5
43
24


Tournament wins 1969 - Monroe Invitation (Open)
1969 - Norman Rotary (Open)
1965 - Tri-State (Texas) (Amateur)
1964 - Oklahoma State Closed (Amateur)
1961 - Oklahoma State (Open)


Tournaments Oklahoma State - 1973 Central State University Indoors - 1972 Monroe Invitation - 1969 Norman Rotary - 1969 Oklahoma State - 1968 Permian Basin Invitation - 1968 Oklahoma State Closed - 1968 Indian Capitol - 1967 Arkansas City - 1967 Oklahoma State - 1966 Norman Rotary - 1966 Tri-State (Texas) - 1965 Oklahoma State Closed - 1965 Oklahoma State - 1964 Arkansas City - 1964 Oklahoma State Closed - 1964 Sooner State - 1964 Sooner State - 1963 Norman Rotary - 1962 Oklahoma State - 1961 Tri-State (Texas) - 1958 Tri-State (Texas) - 1957 Avalanche Journal - 1957 Northwest Texas Open - 1953

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