Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tom Lightvoet: 2005 BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee
October 05, 2005 | General
Oct. 5, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome six new members on Friday (Oct. 7). The official induction ceremony will take place in the grand ballroom of BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m., with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition, the class will be introduced at halftime of Saturday's (Oct. 8) BGSU-Ohio football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at 6:00 p.m., and is designated as Hall of Fame Night.
Tickets for the Oct. 7 dinner are $35 ($30 for Varsity BG members), and advanced reservations are required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Falcon Club office at (419) 372-7063. Football game tickets can be purchased through the ticket office by phone, at 1-877-BGSUTICKET, or on the web at www.BGSUFalcons.com.
The public is invited to attend the induction dinner.
The following is the fourth in a six-part series that takes a look at this year's class of inductees...
TOM LIGHTVOET (men's tennis; 1970-73)
A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., Lightvoet was the only BG men's tennis player ever to win the number-one singles title in the MAC Tournament, capturing the crown in 1973. A four-year letterwinner for the Falcons, he went on to play in the NCAA Tournament where he won his first-round match and advanced to the second round. Lightvoet was the only BG player in history to win a match in the NCAA tourney.
Lightvoet won that MAC title despite suffering from ulcerative colitis, an illness that hurt his effectiveness over his final two seasons. He had entered BGSU in the fall of 1969, the first year that freshmen were eligible to play varsity tennis. In that first season, he teamed with senior Dennis Cavanaugh to win the #1 doubles title in 1970. In that freshman campaign, Lightvoet was the runner up in singles in the third flight at the league championships. He was runner up at the top singles flight at the 1971 MAC Championships. Lightvoet went undefeated with doubles partner Bill Oudsema in the 1972 MAC dual play, before the duo was upset in the MAC Tournament.
At BG, Lightvoet had a career record of 41-20 in singles, and was 36-19 in doubles. Following his graduation in 1973, he worked for Campus Crusade for Christ - Athletes in Action for three years, and was a tennis professional for five years. For the last quarter-century, Lightvoet has been an investment consultant to corporate and public pension plans, and he is currently a Sr. Investment Consultant and Principal with Mercer Investment Consulting in Los Angeles, Calif.
Lightvoet, still active in tennis, has been nationally ranked in various age divisions, and achieved a #1 national ranking in 1995. He resides in Costa Mesa, Calif., with his wife of 31 years, Holly (also a BGSU alum). The couple has three grown children, Heidi, Tom and B.J. Heidi is married to Dustin DeMaio, and they have two children, Trenton and Katelyn.
