Posts filed under 'Oregon Racquetball'
Sunset Athletic Club, located in Portland, OR, hosted the grand opening of their stadium court expansion last night. To help kick things off, Shane Vanderson and Jason Thoerner were on hand for an exhibition match and “play the pro”. Also thanks to Mitch Williams for attending (and reffing), who made the trip despite being a little under the weather. We also got a special visit from some of the USA Racquetball staff, who are in town for this weekend’s USAR High School Nationals event.
Paul Maduell, the club’s racquetball director, ensured fun was had by all with free give-aways and refreshments courtesy of Widmer Brothers Brewing Company.
The new courts are SPECTACULAR, with tons of room for viewing matches, movable back walls to convert for squash, and my favorite - photos windows in both front walls! IMO, this will be THE premiere club in the Northwest for hosting big events (now all we need is some prize money for the IRT or WPRO!!).
If you’re ever in town, you’ll also want to take a look at the expansion’s featured artwork - Courtesy of Double Donut Studios! 
A few of featured photos were blown up to ~8′x8′ and mounted on the walls above the viewing area.
Check out the gallery for all the pics ..
February 26th, 2008
by Geoff Thomsen
As luck would have it, I had a few free hours to spare the weekend of 2007 regional qualifiers for USA Racquetball. On Saturday evening of the 2007 Northwest Regional Racquetball Championships, I was able to catch one of the Men’s Open semis, as well as both of the semis for the Men’s Open Doubles.
Doubledonut Gallery - http://www.doubledonut.com/v/2007_nw_regional/
MS1 - Stark def. Pratt (6, (4), 
- This was a GREAT match between veteran Jeff Stark, and up-and-comer Charlie Pratt. Stark finished second at National Doubles in 2006, and is a member of the USA Racquetball National Team. Pratt is veteran of the Junior tour, and is a long time USA Racquetball Junior Team member. He has started to make his presence felt on the pro tour, where he had a nice win over top ranked IRT player, Jason Thoerner.
MDS1 - Westwood Rutledge def. Baida Solomon (14, 9) - These guys are all long time players in Oregon; Westwood known for winning the Men’s Open singles division in Oregon for the past three years running.
MDS2 - Pratt Knoth def. Darling Rasmussen ((7), 12, 10) - Charlie Pratt teams up with junior champion Taylor Knoth against long time veterans Dan Darling (3rd 2006 National Doubles Men’s Open), and Kelley Rasmussen. Rasmussen would injure his knee part way through game two, which forced Darling to cover the entire court for the rest of the match. While this sounded like an instant victory for Knoth and Pratt, they had to fight hard to *barely* take the tie-breaker.
June 14th, 2007
by Geoff Thomsen
I’ve finally processed and posted the shots I took during the 2006 NW Regional Racquetball Championships.
PHOTO GALLERY
FINAL DRAWS
Matches covered:
Men’s A - Steve Mitchner vs. Jeff Clark
Men’s Open - Jason Samora vs. John Martin
Men’s Open - Jeff Stark vs. Dan Darling
Men’s Open Doubles - Westwood / Rutledge vs. Baida / Rudd
Men’s Open Doubles - Samora / Poppino vs. Hardy / Wilson
Jeff Stark clears the forehand lane over a kill shot by Dan Darling May 2nd, 2006
by Geoff Thomsen
I had a few hours to spare the weekend of the 2006 Northwest Regional Racquetball Championships, and was able to cover five great matches. I’m chugging through the thousand or so pictures, and will get some galleries online as soon as I can.
FINAL DRAWS
Matches covered:
Men’s A - Steve Mitchner vs. Jeff Clark
Men’s Open - Jason Samora vs. John Martin
Men’s Open - Jeff Stark vs. Dan Darling
Men’s Open Doubles - Westwood / Rutledge vs. Baida / Rudd
Men’s Open Doubles - Samora / Poppino vs. Hardy / Wilson
Brad Hardy jumps over a kill by Jason Samora
during the 2006 NW Regional Racquetball Championships April 26th, 2006
by Geoff Thomsen
Found a few free hours to head to Griffith Park YMCA in Beaverton, OR to check out the action at the 2005 Holiday Open. Number 5 seed (#5?!) Jeff Stark settled all seeding disputes after first taking out number 1 seed Jimmy Lowe in the semi’s, and then number 2 seed Dan Darling in the finals.
Just to add a little flair to the tie-breaker, Jeff hit this pretty “jumping-behind-the-back-pinch-rollout” at 10-6 to win the match.
Also included are misc. shots from some other matches going on around the time of the Men’s Open Finals.
Complete Tournament Results / Draws
Oregon Racquetball Home
Double Donut 2005 Holiday Open Gallery
December 12th, 2005
by Geoff Thomsen
UPDATE: Video streams and DVDs are now available at www.proracquetball.net for several of the matches from Ontario! In his second upset in a row, Jack Huczek beats Kane Waselenchuk in the first Tier 1 event of the season. This is actually the second event in a row Jack has claimed victory, as he also beat Kane in the final event of last season. Full write-up at www.irt-tour.com. In local news, Dan Darling follows up his first ORA (Oregon Racquetball Association) Tour stop Men’s Open title with a second title at the Courthouse Legends Event (results). More info: www.oregonracquetball.org. If anyone saw any of these matches, or anything of the Legends, post some comments!!
October 18th, 2005
by Geoff Thomsen
Congratulations to Jimmy Lowe for winning the Men’s Open Draw at the 2005 NW Regionals! (unfortunatley, I was only able to see two matches all weekend, so you’ll have to follow the links to see the complete draws for the rest of the winners).
2005 NW Regionals Photo Gallery
2005 NW Regionals Draws
Official Event Website
April 20th, 2005
by Geoff Thomsen
The Turkey Shoot at Sunset Athletic Club is this weekend. I plan on shooting some matches on Saturday and Sunday, and the Men’s Open draw is looking pretty impressive.
This turned out to be a GREAT event with 23 top players in the Men’s Open division. The pictures from this event were all taken with a 15mm fisheye wide-angle lens, which allows the capture of a full person from as little as 6“ away. You will also notice the “fisheye distortion“ of the lens which makes a cool effect (IMO).
Turkey Shoot Draws
Oregon Racquetball Website
Turkey Shoot Photo Gallerey (all galleries published!)
Look for pictures of: Jimmy Lowe, Jason Samora, Dan Sheppick, Chad Westwood, Brad Hardy, Jamie Sumner, John Martin, Ryan Lindell, Dan Cramer, JP Olson, Tim Hebenton, Paul Reed, Tina Fortin, Artie Johnson
November 9th, 2004
by Geoff Thomsen
Now in the Gallery, pics from the 2004 Sunset Atletic Club In-House tournament.
Look for pics of: Paul Maduell, Greg Hardy, Brad Hardy, Jamie Sumner, Ed Boyle, Ted Culin, Jeff Clark, Seth Bouska, Bob Bailey, Tim Williams, Shawn Wilson, and more ..
October 13th, 2004
by Geoff Thomsen
Check out the Gallery with pictures from the semi’s at the 2004 OR State Championships.
Tourney info
Look for pics of: Chad Westwood, Jason Samora, Jamie Sumner, Dan Sheppick
October 11th, 2004
by Geoff Thomsen
Just finished updating the Gallery with pictures from the 16’s, quarters, and semi’s from the 2004 NW Regionals.
Tourney info
Look for pics of: Chad Westwood, Jason Samora, Jimmy Lowe, Jamie Sumner, Chris Barton, Dan Shelton, Dan Sheppick, Brian Pointlen, Scott Hamon
October 9th, 2004
by Geoff Thomsen
