2006 USA Racquetball Junior Nationals - Saturday
June 25th, 2006 by Adam Katz
Another extremely emotional day up here in Lansing, Michigan, as most of the World Cup births were earned you had the extremes of joy and devastation. At times it was tough to watch, but these are all great kids and before too long everyone was back to smiling once again.
I do have to correct one thing from yesterday. The Doubles Finals were not set yesterday in the World Cup Age Groups. Instead, it was the semifinals that were set on the boy’s side.
First up this morning was the match between Coy/Apperson and Crockett/Miller. This one was a true battle from the beginning as Crockett/Miller were on fire in the first game. Claiming a 15-7 win, things weren’t looking so good. But the two minutes between games seemed to re-energize Coy/ Apperson as they came out killing everything in sight for a 15-1 win in game 2. The tiebreaker, of course was a very nervous affair as Sue Coy was pacing her way around the area that I was watching in. I tried all I could to reassure her, but she wouldn’t believe me until Chris and Zach put away the 11-8 victory. At that point, she finally started to breathe again.
They will meet Keddie/Sledzik for the spot on the team in tomorrow’s finals. This will mean two matches tomorrow for Mike Keddie as he will also be in the Boys 18 Singles Final against Allen Crockett. Allen pulled the big upset of the day defeating Chris Coy in a very up and down battle 11-2 in the tiebreaker. I talked with Chris earlier at the banquet and he is looking forward to the doubles and the chance to end his Junior career with a spot on the US Junior Team.
The 16s Doubles will also feature the top two seeds in the final tomorrow. Aldana/Rojas will play both singles and doubles tomorrow as they look to double qualify. Jose Rojas, who earlier was named Co-Male Junior Athlete of the Year, has looked truly unbeatable this week and will take on his longtime friend Ishmael Aldana. Ishmael started slow in his match with Danny Lavely, but was able to regroup in the second game to start to pull it out. He has the type of game to win, but Jose has that look in his eyes.
The 14s Doubles will also feature a match between the top two seeds as Bredenback/Knoth take on Reid/Lee. The singles will have Brad Kirch going up against Taylor Knoth for the gold.
The Girl’s 18 Doubles final was played today as Female Junior Athlete of the Year Kara Mazur and Samantha McGuffey won a streaky match against Sarah Hetteshiemer and Michelle Key. Game winners jumped to big leads in all three games, only to be caught by the opponents, but they were unable to maintain the momentum of the comeback and fell. The Tiebreaker started with a 7-0 run by Mazur/McGuffey before they fell behind 8-7. But they regrouped to close things out 11-8.
The Girl’s 16 Doubles also ended play today as Sharon Jackson and Holly Hettesheimer won the gold. Sharon has now double qualified for the Junior World Cup.
In the 14 Doubles, Danielle Key and Lilly Berry have taken the gold, and Danielle has double qualified as she will play for the singles gold in tomorrow’s final.
The Espirit Cup team is mostly decided as only the Girl’s 10 Doubles and Boy’s 12 Doubles spots remain to be filled. The team currently consists of:
Girl’s 8s
Erika Manilla
Christina Lavely
Girl’s 10s
Abbey Lavely
Hollee Hungerford
Mercedes Arias (Doubles)
Girl’s 12s
Devon Pimentelli
Samantha Rosado
Boy’s 8s
Ryan Francis
Jake Birnel
Boy’s 10s
Adam Manilla
Bobby Sehrgosha
Sean Cooperrider (Doubles)
Boy’s 12s
Marko Rojas
Jose Diaz
As for Team Colorado, another strong day for most of the team.
Our new leader, Adam Manilla again completed a 3-0 day and claimed his first two National Championships for this year, his third and fourth overall.
His day started with the Boy’s 10 Doubles Final against fellow Team Colorado player Zach Pellowski and Chris Francis of New Hampshire. Adam and Sean jumped to big leads in each of the two games and held on late for the 15-10, 15-12 victory. I watched this match next to US Junior Team Coach, Kelley Beane as she coaches Chris Francis, and she was the first of many people to tell me how impressed they are with Adam Manilla’s play and demeanor on court.
After that came the Boy’s 10 Singles semifinal against Ohio’s Spencer Shoemaker, Spencer gave it all he had, but he had never experienced playing a lefty before and that proved too much to overcome as he fell in two close games.
His day ended with the Mixed Doubles Final against singles finalist Bobby Sehrgosha and Sabrina Viscuso. Again two close games saw Adam and Oregon’s Hollee Hungerford claim the National Title.
Elizabeth Vargas started the day with a doubles match that was very straightforward and close. Two close games with Hollee Hungerford and Victoria Fladstol now put them on the brink of a National Championship. After that, she faced Hollee Hungerford in the Girl’s 10 Singles semifinals. This match was a roller coaster as Elizabeth fell behind 5-14 in game one before she found her groove and closed out the game. She fell behind again in both the 2nd game and the tiebreaker and just ran out of time before she could come back, losing 11-9 in the tiebreaker.
Zach regrouped from his loss in the Doubles final to win his Blue Division singles semifinal.
Matt McAdam lost his Blue division semifinal, but won his Mixed Doubles consolation match.
So tomorrow Adam Manilla goes for his 3rd National Championship this year in the Boy’s 10 Singles. Erika Manilla goes for the Gold in the Girl’s 8s and Girl’s 8 Multi Bounce. Elizabeth Vargas attempts to win the Girl’s 10 Doubles. Zach Pellowski attempts to win the Blue division of the Boy’s 10s. Elizabeth and Matt McAdam attempt to win the Mixed 10 Doubles Consolations.
Overall, a very strong performance by a great group of kids!
Also, an early note about tomorrow, due to the fact that I have to get home, I will be leaving before most of the best matches take place. I cannot even guarantee that I will get any kind of update out to everyone, but I will do what I can.
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Entry Filed under: Racquetball News, USA Racquetball
Tags: 2006 Junior Nationals, Junior Nationals
