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ROAD WARRIORS
Eight Coloradans traveled to Salt Lake City ... right before State Singles, to compete in the National Masters Invitational. Stalwarts Dick Kincade, Mike Martin, Shirley Parsons, Kenneth Pattison, Marcia Richards, Cindy Tilbury, Neil Wong and Michael Wouk all made the trek, and more than a few of them brought back some hardware.

Board members Marcia Richards and Cindy Tilbury did some damage in their respective singles divisions, with silver medal placements in both the 50+ and 45+, then teamed up to win the Women's 50+ Doubles. Shirley Parsons also brought home a medal set, with a win in the Women's 55+ singles and a finish in the Mixed.

Dick Kincade earned a gold in the Men's 80+ doubles, and a silver in singles, followed by a third place finish by Kenneth Pattison in the 70+ doubles, and a pair of semi-final placements for Mike Martin in the 80+ singles and doubles. In the larger pool play formats of the Men's 55+, Michael Wouk enjoyed his preliminary round play, as did Neil Wong in his 60+ doubles flight.
CONGRATULATIONS !
UP you GO! Along with congratulations to the following 2008 State Singles champions, they're also on notice that they will need to move UP a skill category in the coming season (after State Games in August) ...

Women's A: Shirley Parsons | Women's B: Nicole Cordova
Men's A: Ted Dutcher | Men's B: Ted Sison
Men's C: Nicholas Riffel | Men's D/Novice: David Brey

Annual Award Winners selected at State Singles were:
Most Improved Female - Chantal Anderson 
Most Improved Male - Ben Kincses
Most Improved Junior - Elizabeth Vargas
Best Sportsmanship - Deanne Erskine
Best Tournament Director - Jo Shattuck
Best Club - Highlands Ranch

Eric John Nydam was also the first "early-bird" to enter State Singles, and won a free entry to either the 2008 State Doubles - or - the 2009 State Singles. Congratulations, and thanks for entering early!
DAVIS DEBUTS WACQUETBALL
CRA Board Member Dan Davis was recently interviewed and featured in an online news segment broadcast by Denver's News7.

Davis is credited as the inventor of "Wacquetball" -- a game variation geared for seniors, that is designed to use an oversized ball and slow down the game for those with limited mobility.

The voiceover clip explains how the new game is played, and several enthusiasts are shown taking part and talking about how much they enjoy the new twist.

The two minute segment can be viewed on the ABC affiliate website. Send your shout-out congratulations to Dan@ColoradoRacquetball.com. Good job!
NATIONAL DOUBLES LINEUP
Eight Colorado players traveled to Phoenix to compete in the National Doubles championships, with several advancing into medal rounds. Woody Clouse picked a winner for an unorthodox lefty-lefty age-group pairing, but it worked well to have Cliff Swain on either half of the court. Clouse and Swain defeated veteran champs Jimmy Lowe and Tim Hansen for the Men's 40+ title, in straight games. Clouse also took an unchallenged third place in the Men's Open Team Qualifier, with partner Ben Croft.

Both Croft and Mitch Williams are semi-Coloradans, who are attending college in Pueblo. Williams and partner Jason Thoerner reached the final of the qualifier, before losing to top pros Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek. In a grueling W50/55 pool play draw, CRA President Marcia Richards took fourth place with Denny Erardi. 
 
Team Colorado 2008
Woody Clouse | Team Qualifier & 40+ 
Ben Croft | Team Qualifier
Anthony Herrera | Team & Open
Jim Hiser | 50+ & 55+
Marcia Richards | Elite & 50+
Kwi Spinks | A, B & Mixed A
Sarah Spinks | B
Mitch Williams | US Team Qualifier

Find out how far your favorites advanced in the draws >>
Something for Everyone at RACQUET FOR THE CURE

Racquet for the Cure Wraps up with Big Winners All Around ... After a sanctioned Men's Singles Shootout, Mixed Doubles Benefit and all-women, all-day team play on Saturday, players came away exhausted, but not empty-handed. At the awards party, thousands of dollars worth of donated equipment, accessories and merchandise was given away to entrants. Read the wrap up to find out who won two free Breckenridge Ski weekends, plus plenty of other great prizes! View the online results for the individual finishes, plus ...

Thursday's Men’s Shootout Winners & Finalists
Men’s Open: David Guentert def. Eric Metherd
Men’s A: Eric Nydam def. Miles Venzara
Men’s B/C: Adam Manilla def. Carlos Cordero-Loza
Men’s D: Walter Meza def. Paul Britton

Friday's Mixed Doubles Winners & Finalists
Open: Angela Grisar/Jo Shattuck def. Barb Mehegan/Greg Kellums
A: Lori Inskeep/Kevin Holmes def. Eric Nydam/Lori Hill
B: Kim Walker/Lou Trignani def. Carlos Cordero-Loza/Diane Wilkison

NEW RULES GO INTO EFFECT
Here are the five specific rules proposals approved by the USAR Board of Directors that went into effect on September 1, 2007:

A. Added this new (rule) policy: “Once all players in a match have been informed what court they will be playing on, singles players are allowed up to 5 minutes of on-court warm-up time and these warm-up times run concurrently. For doubles, each team is allowed up to 5 minutes for on-court warm-up and while these times do not run concurrently, both team’s warm-ups must be completed generally within a 10-minute period that starts when the first team begins its warm-up.”  

B. Clarified Rule 3.15(c) by adding the words “that comes into play” at the end of it so it would read: “Moves into a position which blocks the opponent from getting to, or returning, the ball; or in doubles, the offensive player who is not returning the ball hinders or impedes either defensive player’s ability to move into a position to cover the pending shot that comes into play.”  

C. Amplified Rule 3.11(a) 1 by adding this sentence at the end: “For example, if the receiver steps on the dashed receiving line with either foot (with any part of the foot contacting the line), a point shall be called for the server.”  

D. Revised Rule 2.4(e) by adding these provisions: “The penalty for playing with an otherwise legal racquet with a grip extending beyond the 22-inch limit if noted during the course of a game shall be a technical foul and a timeout to correct the problem. Subsequent violations will result in the loss of the game in process. If the challenged racquet is found to be within the 22-inch limit, then a timeout will be charged to the player who made the challenge.”  

E. Added this provision to Rule 3.9(j): “In one serve play, if a serve is made while the receiver is not ready as described in Rule 3.5(b), the server will be allowed one more opportunity to hit a legal serve.”
 
JUNIOR TEAM COLORADO PLACES 4TH

Coach Dan Davis reported that nine Colorado juniors made the trip to Arizona State University in Tempe for the 34th US Junior Olympic Racquetball Championships, which drew over 250 kids from 33 states. Against top level competition, Team Colorado players stepped up and did extremely well by capturing fourth place in the nation, beating out state squads made up of as many as 31 kids.

Each and every player earned points for the team, with seven of the nine reaching a medal round, to secure a total medal count of 14. First place in the Gold division earns the national title and we had five national champions!

Thanks to Carol Pellowski (our coach from Grand Junction) and for everyone’s support. We are very proud of all of everyone who took part in this year's event.

Gold Division: Bryce Johnston – 3rd in mixed 14’s
Adam Manilla – 1st in boy’s 12 doubles and 4th in boy’s 12 singles
Matt McAdam – 1st in mixed 10’s and 2nd in boy’s 10 doubles
Elizabeth Vargus – 1st in girl’s 10 singles, 2nd in girl’s 12 doubles, and 4th in mixed doubles
Erika Manilla – 1st in girl’s 8 singles, 1st in mixed 10 doubles and 2nd in girl’s 10 singles

Blue Division:  Matt McAdam – 1st boy’s 10’s
Tim Smith and Kevin Hernandez both earned points in the Boy’s 18’s and ended in the blue division.  (The boy’s 18’s division is the toughest division)
Red Division: Nick Riffel – 2nd in boy’s 12’s
Consolations: Nick Riffel - 1st in boy’s 12 doubles
Zack Pellowski - 1st in boy’s 12 doubles

STATE SINGLES CONCLUDES
New champs crowned at State Singles ... Anthony Herrera and Tina Hagen took top honors in the Open divisions at the CRA State Singles, with wins over David Guentert and Deb Beldring in their respective finals.

But the real troopers were the winners in the Men's B and C divisions, which fielded the largest draws of the tournament, with 27 hopefuls in B and 23 in C. When all was said-and-done, Ted Sison outlasted the B field for the win, and Nicholas Riffel earned a hard-fought C title. Congratulations to everyone who played!
LOVE OF THE GAME, FULFILLED!

Don Goodwin, who plays at the Littleton YMCA in Denver, shared his feel-good experience from the Motorola / Verizon World Championship IRT Pro Stop held in Colorado Springs ...

For those of us who love the game, we who think about it every spare moment of the day, practice our stroke mechanics in the men’s room at work, we who are just down-right obsessed with it, were blessed recently with a new Grand Slam event in Colorado Springs.  The experience of witnessing the immortals from whatever planet they hail from was truly mesmerizing. 

First, there was the made for TV court.  Sitting in the stands at the side of the court sent the viewing perspective to a new level of speed and out of this world ability of the professional athletes in the sport.   There was not a bad seat in the house; from any angle it was enjoyable to be a spectator.  It was especially fun to see our own homeboy Woody handling the commentary for Royster Productions.

Additionally, the professional players were very approachable.  I think I introduced myself to every one of them and they were grateful to meet with and talk personably with you.  I found them to be extremely friendly and appreciative of the recognition and admiration they receive from fan base of the sport.  Unlike most professional sports, even the amateur is made to feel like he is adopted into the brotherhood of this special group of people.

Finally, the setting was inspiring.  A great many people and suppliers went all out in making this a special event for us, the spectator.  When I first walked into the setting I knew this was going to be a special event.  Thanks Eddie for bringing the Motorola Verizon IRT nationals and Grand Slam tournament to Colorado Springs.  It was the highlight of my year and I look forward to this becoming an annual event in our area.

RB Lodge!
Imagine a rental property in Breckenridge with a racquetball court in it! This house is rented out for vacations, business meetings and youth group retreats -- and can be seen at www.alpinelink.com. The owners currently offer first-time guests 30% off the regular price of the first two nights.

If you have asked if certain days were available, please check again. People move their days quite often, so your first choice of days may now be available. If you have questions, please reply by email or call Elizabeth Hawkins at 970-453-4924 x11.
Team Colorado Makes Good Showing at Worlds

World Seniors, that is … Eleven players from Colorado traveled to the 19th IRF World Senior Championships in Albuquerque last month, and came away with a total of eight gold and three silver medals. Double-gold medal winners were Jo Shattuck and Shirley Parsons, who each won both the singles and mixed doubles titles in their age divisions. Congratulations to the traveling squad! [ full results ]

Woody Clouse (#1 M35+); Bruce Evans (#5 M45+); Maylen Gaspar (#1 MX40+; #3 W40+); Tina Hagen (#3 W35+); Mary Keenan (#1 W50+; #2 MX50+); Clarence Newcomb (#6 M65+); Shirley Parsons (#1 W55+; #1 MX55+); Jo Shattuck (#1 W35+; #1 MX35+); Luke St. Onge (#1 MX 65+; #5 MX60+); Ken Sylvester (#5 M55+; #2 MX 50+); Cindy Tilbury (#2 W45+; #5 MX45+).

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