2006 Racquetball Junior Nationals - Thursday
June 22nd, 2006 by Adam Katz
Another fantastic day of racquetball here at the Head/Penn Junior Olympic Racquetball Championships in Lansing, MI. Things are starting to heat up as the divisions draw closer to their respective conclusions.A couple of upsets to note to start this report, in the Boy’s16 Doubles Current World 14 Champions Danny Lavely and Chad McGuffey were beaten by Brad Kirch and John-Craig Chisholm in 3 very close games. I believe the scores were 15-10, 14-15, 11-6. Also, in the Girl’s 16 Singles, 2nd seed Holly Hettesheimer lost to California’s Sherrika Darnell. I don’t recall any specifics about the match, but I did talk with Sherrika afterward and she was very happy with this result.
All of the big names were in action today in both singles and doubles. One particular mention that needs to be made was Jose Rojas. In Juarez, Mexico last December during Junior Worlds he had a specific look in his eyes as he plowed through the draw on his way to a World title. That look is back!
Chris Coy looked comfortable today winning his singles and then teaming with Zach Apperson to easily claim victory in doubles. Mike Keddie also looks good on these courts. He played his singles on the show court which has left side and back wall glass. As hard as he hits the ball, it was easy to tell who was on that court as I watched some of my Colorado kids on the court next door.
In the 16s, Ismael Aldana also won his match quite easily and then teamed with Jose Rojas for a victory in the doubles. Chad McGuffey got over the disappointment of the doubles defeat and won a hard fought battle in the singles.
In the 14s, all of the seedings held to form in both the singles and doubles.
On the Girl’s side, the top 4 seeds were all in action today in the 18s and they all claimed comfortable quarterfinal wins. This sets up matches between Kara Mazur and Michelle Key on the top half and Sarah Hettesheimer and Ashley Willhite on the bottom half. Michelle and Sarah also teamed today to win the first match of the 3 team Girl’s 18 Doubles.
In the 16s, the remaining seeds held to form after Sherrika’s big win, but I cannot tell you anything about the doubles as they were held at the alternate club and I didn’t get over there today.
In the 14s, again all seeds held to form and the matches were played at the alternate club.
On the Espirit side, things are starting to get very tight as they near the qualifying positions for Junior Worlds. I missed most of the matches in these divisions today outside of the Team Colorado matches, so those are the only ones I can talk about at this time. The Michigan organization hosted a pool party this evening after play had ended complete with outdoor racquetball, volleyball and hot dogs.
On the Team Colorado front, Adam Manilla completed a 2-0 day as he cruised into the quarterfinals of the singles with a 15-1, 15-2 victory. He was obviously in control of this match from the beginning, but he did take the time to work on all aspects of his game to get them used to these courts for later battles. He followed that up with a convincing win in the Mixed Doubles battle with his sister, Erika. Adam, like Jose Rojas, seems on a mission in this tournament, and at this point I’m just very glad that I don’t have to play him!
The rest of the news in the Boy’s 10 Singles wasn’t so good for Team Colorado. Both Zach Pellowski and Matt McAdam fell out of the Gold Division and into the Blue Division as they suffered tough defeats. Both matches were very close, but neither players was able to pull out the victory.
On the plus side, though, Zach was able to regroup with his doubles partner, Chris Francis from NH, and win their semifinal in the Boy’s 10 Doubles winning over Matt and his partner, Conlon Berry of Ohio.
Tim Smith had a lot of fun today, but fell out of the tournament in both singles and doubles. The experience has been extremely fun for him and he looks forward to starting his training for next year.
Bryce Johnston learned another lesson today in the Red Division and will now give the White Division a shot tomorrow, he also has consolation doubles to look forward to.
Kevin Hernandez managed to win is Red Division match today and will continue on in that division tomorrow.
Despite the loss to her big brother, Erika was able to storm back and post a 15-1, 15-0 victory in the girl’s 8 Singles. Only two more matches in that 5 team round robin to go. Tomorrow she’ll start her play in the Girl’s 8 Multi Bounce.
Elizabeth Vargas had a mixed day as she and Girl’s 10 Doubles partner Abbey Lavely of Ohio won their match in the 12/10 doubles. However, she and Mixed 10 Doubles partner Matt McAdam lost a tough tiebreaker in the quarterfinals.
Now that you know what happened at the tournament, it’s time to let you all know some other information. A few months ago, I was asked by Ed Mazur, Chairman of the USAR Junior Council, to join the Executive Board of that Council. Well, after going back and forth for a while, I accepted. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I don’t have any desire to continue working on the national level and would prefer to downsize to spending the time that I do during the weeks with our kids in CO. As such, I will be handing in my resignation effective at the end of this tournament on Sunday.
I will still continue to do what I can to keep people updated about tournaments like Junior Nationals and Junior Worlds, but at the same time I will keep myself focused on my Team Colorado kids!
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Entry Filed under: Racquetball News, USA Racquetball
Tags: 2006 Junior Nationals, Junior Nationals
