MOULTRIE — Former Moultrie High tennis player Lonnie White picked up his 15th and 16th national titles last weekend at the American Tennis Association’s 90th National Championships held July 22-29 in San Diego, Calif.

White, who now lives in Sylvester, won the men’s 45 singles and the mixed doubles championships. He also brought back a runner-up trophy in men’s doubles

White won five matches en route to the singles title. In the finals, he defeated Rick Marrick of Denver, Colo.

And he did it the hard way against the 6-foot-4, hard-serving left-hander, losing the first set 3-6, but coming back to win 6-2, 6-4.

“He played for Pepperdine and has been one of the top players in the country for as long as I can remember,” White said. “And when we played before, he beat me pretty bad

“He just kept attacking. After I lost the first set, I just decided to do what I do. I just tried to make him run around and around.”

In the mixed doubles competition, White teamed with Alice King to knock off Frank Scott and Michelle Richards, both of Philadelphia, Pa.

In doubles, White and Jonathan Hart of Atlanta fell in the finals to a pair of Californians, Maurice Hunter and Wayne Daniels, 6-3, 6-2.

While in San Diego, White also attending several coaching seminars held in connection with the Championships. He is longtime coach and gives lessons to a number of players in the area, including several in Moultrie. He also is in his second years as the assistant tennis coach at Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton.

White is currently preparing for the U.S. Tennis Association’s 40 Nationals, which will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 5 in Savannah.

The ATA National Championships will be played next year at Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The ATA, formed in 1916 by a group of African-American businessmen, is the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States.