Western Michigan University Athletics

NOTEWORTHY
?    Ranked No. 31 in doubles in preseason ITA rankings

2006-07
?    Second Team All-MAC, Academic All-MAC (3.94 GPA was highest among honorees),
     ITA Scholar-Athlete, ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV Men’s At-Large First Team
?    Finished the year ranked No. 60 in the country in doubles with Bryan Norville after being ranked as high as No. 34
?    Two-time MAC Player of the Week (3/28 & 4/25) and two-time MAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week (10/5 & 2/1)
?    Went 5-0 in singles and doubles in matches against Michigan State (3/21), IPFW (3/23) and Ferris State (3/23) to earn his first award ... one of the wins was             a defeat of the Spartans’ 32nd-ranked Adam Monich and Nick Rinks
?    Won at No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles against Toledo (4/20) to help WMU clinch the MAC regular season championship
?    Went 6-0 against opponents from Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Michigan at the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 29-Oct. 1) to earn his first MAC Male Scholar-Athlete        of the Week award
?    Went combined 3-1 to in a road split at No. 63 Vanderbilt (W-1/27) and No. 31 Middle Tennessee State (L-1/28) to claim second Scholar-Athlete award
?    Teamed with Norville to defeat the No. 2 doubles team in the country of Andreas Siljestrom and Marco Born of Middle Tenn. St. (3/2) 8-6 at the HEB Invitational
?    Tied for the team lead with 32 doubles victories
?    Member of WMU Doubles Team of the Year with Norville   
?    Earned third letter

2005-06
?    Second Team All-MAC, Academic All-MAC (3.93 GPA was highest among honorees),
      ITA Scholar-Athlete
?    Named MAC Player of the Week (3/8) after winning four matches at the H.E.B. Collegiate Team Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas, against No. 50                  Nebraska, No. 63 Texas A&M-Corpus  Christi and No. 74 UNLV
?    Tied for the team lead with 30 singles victories and second overall with 53 total victories
?    Won three straight qualifying matches to advance to the main draw of the ITA Midwest Regional
?    Advanced to the doubles championship and won the backdraw singles championship at the ITA Summer Circuit event hosted by WMU
?    Earned second letter

2004-05
?     MAC Newcomer of the Year
?     Earned WMU Rookie of the Year honors and the Hap Sorensen Coaches Award
?     ITA Scholar-Athlete
?     Went 23-9 in singles, including a 19-4 dual mark, 4-1 in the MAC
?     Named MAC Player of the Week (1/18) after wins against Michigan and Northwestern
?     Earned first letter

High School
?     Four-year letterwinner who went 117-8 in high school
?     Advanced to the Division II finals at No. 1 singles as a junior, semifinals as a senior
?     Helped high school finish fourth in the state in Division II in 2003 as a junior
?     Ranked as high as fifth in the Midwest and 61st in the nation
?     Three-time all-state selection
?     Won four sectional and regional championships
?     National Honor Society member was named to the academic honor roll three times

Personal
?     Majoring in psychology and management
?     Son of John and Lauree Birchmeier
?     Born March 5, 1986