Many NCS Juniors came home with trophies from the Bronze National Championships at Yale Sunday April 25, 2010, and those who did not can be proud of their achievements. Every player who entered proved he or she is competitive in a nationally contested tournament!
Here is a report on the nine NCS players who played through the last day of the tournament:
Geoffrey Keating, playing up an age division in BU19, took second place, losing in the finals to Baltimore’s David Snyder. Just two years ago, Geoff made it to the semis in the BU15 Bronze Nationals, so you could say he made more than four years of progress in less than two years.
Zach Ho lost a very tight 5 game match in the BU15 semifinals this morning, with two games decided 11-9 and one 12-10! Zach went on to win third place in another closely contested five game match. This was Zach’s first national tournament, a fantastic result!
Alex Alvarez won third place in BU17, winning in three straight games, two of which went to 13-11. Alex plays for The Potomac School’s Varsity and clearly is a rising star in the Mid-Atlantic Squash Organization High School League.
Rachel Brown took fourth place in GU17, losing in four games, with one of the losses going to 13-11.
Theo Mendez took sixth place in BU15, losing an exciting five game match that featured two tie-breaker games. This was also Theo’s first national championship tournament, and even more impressively Theo recently just aged out of BU13. Theo is another young NCS player to watch in future seasons.
Greg Berson won the consolation finals in BU17, marking another NCS player making his debut on the national championship stage. Interestingly, Greg won by successively larger margins as the tournament progressed, a very difficult task. Usually matches get more difficult to win as you progress further in the tournament. Greg won his round of 16 consolations match in 5 games, his quarterfinals match in four games, and then today won both his semifinals and finals matches in three games! During the finals match, one spectator rooting for his opponent said Greg “gets to everything!” An exaggeration perhaps, but not much. That’s a good goal for any aspiring junior — if you can get to and return the ball each time, you will win. Easier said than done.
Sam Patterson, in his debut in a national championship, reached the consolation semifinals in BU17 and played a hotly contested five game match. That was the equivalent to an 11th/12th place finish in a very competitive 32 player draw.
Carter Clarke won the BU19 plate in his most convincing win of the tournament, winning the finals in three straight games. He had to turn back Jeremy Ho in the semis, with both players playing very well in a tight five game match.
Caroline Resor reached the GU17 plate semifinals but lost a competitive four game match where no game was won by more than three points.
Congratulations to all the NCS Juniors for an excellent tournament and a record turnout among NCS Juniors!
