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Friday, July 04, 2008

Junior Athletes of the Year Recognized
By Greg LaBrie @ 1:04 PM :: 408 Views ::

U.S. Junior Team Head Coach Kelley Beane and U.S. Junior Esprit Coach Jen Meyer were given the honor of presenting the top awards recognizing outstanding performance and accomplishments for 2008. The winners selected were nominated by their fellow players.
Male Junior Athlete of the Year-Jose Rojas, Female Junior Athlete of the Year-Sharon Jackson, Junior Sportsman of the Year-Ismael Aldana, Female Esprit Athlete of the Year-Erika Manilla, Male Esprit Athlete of the Year-Adam Manilla.

For the complete article by Leo Vasquez you can view it on the USA Racquetball Website.

To view the results of the tournament you can view it by going to the R2Sports website.

Friday, July 04, 2008

2008 USA Junior Team
By Greg LaBrie @ 12:51 PM :: 399 Views ::

Congratulations to the following players for making the team!

Girls 18s

Sharon Jackson - Indiana - Singles and Doubles

Sheryl Lotts - Ohio - Singles

Shannon Inglesby - Oregon - Doubles

Girls 16s

Aubrey O'Brien - California - Singles and Doubles

Danielle Key - Arizona - Singles and Doubles

Girls 14s

Devon Pimentelli - California - Singles and Doubles

Courntney Chisholm - Massachusetts - Singles and Doubles

Girls 12s

Sabrina Viscuso - California - Singles and Doubles

Abbey Lavely - Ohio - Singles

Hollee Hungerford - Oregon - Doubles

Girls 10s

Erika Manilla - Colorado - Singles and Doubles

Mary Zeng - Michigan - Singles

Jordan Cooperrider - Florida - Doubles

Girls 8s

Kaitlyn Boyle - Oregon - Singles

Victoria Leon - California - Singles

Boys 18s

Jose Rojas - California - Singles and Doubles

Danny Lavely - Ohio - Singles

Jansen Allen - Texas - Doubles

Boys 16s

Taylor Knoth - Oregon - Singles

Brad Kirch - New York - Singles and Doubles

Nick Montalbano - New York - Doubles

Boys 14s

Marco Rojas - California - Singles and Doubles

Jose Diaz - California - Singles and Doubles

Boys 12s

Adam Manilla - Colorado - Singles

Sawyer Lloyd - California - Singles and Doubles

Bobby Sehrgosha - California - Doubles

Boys 10s

Jake Birnel - Washington - Singles and Doubles

Jordan Barth - Minnesota - Singles

Ryan Francis - New Hampshire - Doubles

Boys 8s

Sean Henry - Indiana - Singles

Christian Ulliman - Ohio - Singles

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Thursday December 21 - Day 6 by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 11:23 AM :: 662 Views ::

First, I would like to congratulate each and every one of the 301 players that came to Tempe, Arizona to compete in the 18th IRF Ektelon Junior World Racquetball Championships, and also congratulations to Team Mexico for defending their titles in the Junior World Cup (14-18 year olds) and the Espirit Cup (12 and under).

I didn't get to see all the matches yesterday, but I will report on what I know. And today we will start with the match of the day. The Girl's 14 Singles Final between Ecuador's Veronica Sotomayer and USA's Aubrey O'Brien. Both players gave it everything they had from the opening shot to the final point in the tiebreaker.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Wednesday December 20 - Day 5 by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 11:22 AM :: 510 Views ::

Another amazing day of racquetball as we've now reached the finals in all divisions. For awhile it looked like they weren't going to make it on the Boy's side of things, but they were able to get the quarters and semis completed today, and the overall World Cup is going to come down to the matches tomorrow between the USA and Mexico. Several divisions will have this matchup so I'm sure you can imagine what the atmosphere will be like.

Today in the Girl's 18s, Michelle Key played some solid racquetball in defeating Mexico's Marcelo Moreno to set up her final against the other Mexican player, Karen Torres. Michelle is definitely excited about the challenge and is playing hitting the ball extremely well right now.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Tuesday December 19 - Day 4 by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 11:20 AM :: 525 Views ::

What an amazing day of high quality racquetball. The atmosphere definitely kicked into gear today. The drums and noisemakers haven't made an appearance yet, but I'm sure they aren't far behind. As such, I'm going to break with my protocol of covering the ladies first by going with the match of the day.

It took place in the Boy's 10 quarterfinals between Costa Rica's National Champion, Pablo Sauma, and the US National Champion, Adam Manilla from Colorado. This match took place over 9 hours ago, and I can remember every shot moment by moment. It didn't start very well for Adam as Pablo found a slight chink in his armor and exploited it relentlessly in the first game. Adam just couldn't get untracked and Pablo ran out to an uncatchable 10-1 lead. Adam fought back to 3, but kept Pablo from clinching the game for several serves giving him a glimmer of hope for the rest of the match. When word started to spread that Adam had lost the first game, the crowd went from a few people from the US and Costa Rica to the vast majority of people in the club. I kept looking behind me to see even more people trying to find some vantage point to watch the action.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Monday December 18 - Day 3 by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 10:03 AM :: 528 Views ::

What an incredible day of racquetball, the action was non stop and this was just the last day of pool play. The rest of the tournament promises to be very exciting as we now move to the single elimination portion of the Junior World Cup.

Head Coach Kelley Beane mentioned that the team was still doing well and everyone is looking forward to the next phase of this tournament.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Sunday December 17, Day 2 - by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 11:01 PM :: 537 Views ::

Another great day of Racquetball as the US Junior World Cup team kept its strong pool play going, as did Mexico and Canada.

Head Coach Kelley Beane mentioned that the team looked and felt much stronger today now that the first day jitters are gone. And this is a very good thing as pool play ends tomorrow and the single elimination will start on Tuesday morning.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Saturday, December 16, Day 1 - by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 10:12 AM :: 519 Views ::

The first day of the tournament was definitely filled with plenty of excitement as pool play began in the Junior World Cup and gold division play began in the Espirit Cup.

Overall an excellent day for Team USA, as it was also for Team Mexico and Team Canada.

The IRF has modified the format of the Junior World Cup this year so that each pool is filled with players in a specific area of the bracket...top or bottom. Consequently, a loss in pool play now will not drop a player into the other half of the bracket causing two teammates to play against one another early on in single elimination play. There is one exception to this rule...in the Girl's 18s, the two American girls, Michelle Key and Ashley Wilhite, will have to face off in pool play, but will go into the draw on opposite sides.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Opening Ceremonies - by Adam Katz
By Greg LaBrie @ 10:02 AM :: 522 Views ::

Greetings from Tempe, AZ, home of the 18th Ektelon International Racquetball Federation Junior World Championships.

The teams have arrived and they used today to practice at the Student Recreation Center on the campus of Arizona State University. Twenty teams will be contesting this year's individual and team championships beginning Saturday morning at 8:30am.

I watched most of the teams practicing today and as is always the case, I walked away very impressed. Team USA, in the words of Assistant Coach Shane Wood, is relaxed and confident, and from what I saw, I have to agree.

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