Carrie Gilson Bastin
Carrie Gilson Bastin is a proverbial "chip off the old block" and she's proud to admit it. That's why Carrie and her mom Lorraine (posthumous) are both being inducted into the Mercer County Hall of Fame this year.Carrie was one of the greatest tennis players ever developed in this county, playing for her coach/mom at Grove City High School as a member of the boys' net team.In the early going she started taking tennis lessons from Millie Roll at the YMCA and learned fundamentals from teaching pro Bob Watson of Slippery Rock and the rest is history.The high school started a boys tennis team in 1977 when Carrie was a freshman. She made the starting team as a freshman. And after the tennis coach left following that season, her mom took over the helm.
Carrie lettered four years on the boys squad and her senior year she won the District 10 Girls Tennis Championship, taking the crown away from an Erie school for the first time in 30 years. Crowned the Miss Pennsylvania Teen her senior year, she also won the GCHS prestigious Jiggs Wolford Award for the boys tennis team in 1980.
She competed in numerous United States Tennis Association tournaments in the summers and finished her USTA junior career ranked 5th in Allegheny Mountain Tennis Association 18-under division, 2nd in doubles. She ranked 7th in girls doubles in Middle States Tennis Association which encompasses 4 states and 20th in singles before entering college.
She played Division I tennis for West Virginia University on a full scholarship. She was a 4-year letter winner and captain of the team her junior and senior seasons. She posted a 113-60 overall career record. Carrie and her partner won first flight doubles at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships.
A teacher in the Houston (Texas) area, she has assisted thousands of youngsters as a teaching tennis pro. She coaches high school tennis at St. Thomas Episcopal School where in her teams have posted an 88.9 percent winning percentage over her 5 years at the helm.One of her proudest endeavors is serving as a visiting pro for "Serve Up a Cure" tennis tournament fundraiser each October in Houston which benefits breast cancer patients and ongoing research.