Kathleen Parker/Wendy Bermingham Capture Colorado State

Cary Hodges
December 9, 2013
Denver, CO

In maybe the coldest conditions in tournament history, 19 teams gathered for this year's Women's Colorado State Open Paddle Tournament. With the recent growth locally, the event began on Friday afternoon with temps dropping near 0 degrees. The low temperature may not seem like a big deal to the rest of the paddle world, but it was significant in our case because it was such a drastic change from the rest of our Indian Summer-like conditions throughout the fall season. All players had to adjust quickly to the different characteristics of cold weather paddle and in the end, the recently paired team of Wendy Bermingham and Kathleen Parker (pictured at right) adjusted the best.

Anne Koo and Anne Lehigh came into the weekend as defending State Champs and held the top seed. After a hard fought semifinal against another newly formed team, Cyn Rentz and Sarah Shore, Koo and Lehigh had made it back to familiar territory in the final. On the other side of the bracket, Bermingham and Parker, seeded second, also had to stay focused in the semis to get past the aggressive team of Eag Norton and Sandy Macartney. Norton and Macartney had barely survived the longest match of the day in the quarterfinal round by getting past Kathy Givan and Winslow Waxter, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3.

With a hearty group of guys hovered around the fire pit for the finals, Bermingham and Parker returned serve aggressively and were able to take the first set at 6-4. Koo and Lehigh's experience in these type of matches was not to be taken lightly and they were able to stay even throughout the second set forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6. Both teams were able to maintain their focus through a potential distraction on the neighboring court as a player, Norton, in the third place match went down on the court with a serious ankle sprain, forcing her team to retire. Meanwhile, Bermingham and Parker stayed focused taking the tie breaker 7 points to 2 to emerge as first time champions!

In the back draws, Waxter and Givan took out their frustration after the quarterfinal loss by taking 5th place by defeating Amy List and Bobbie Brandon, 6-2 6-4. Rentz and Shore finished 3rd with the score at 2-6, 5-3, when Norton had to withdraw after her ankle injury.

In the Consolation bracket, Kimberlee Berman and Lisa Duke were pushed to the limit by up-and-comers Cady Sheldon and Laurie Assini, 7-6, 6-3.

The Last Chance bracket was won by another newly formed team, Ellie Schneiders and Mary Spaulding, who, in the last match of the day, needed three sets to get past Amy Quinn and Jyll Lily, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

The "B" bracket had four teams, who all showed up pumped to play in the "real paddle weather." The robin robin teams were Chriss Bond and Annie Humphrey, Wendy Fryer and Kris Kerr, Jennie Wolf and Annie Stookesbury, and Eileen Pero with Karen Knight. Of the six matches played, three of them went the distance to third sets. Each team improved with each set played and by the final match, teams were communicating and moving as if they had played all season together. In the end, Fryer and Kerr emerged undefeated to take top honors, followed by Pero and Knight in second place.

All of the players should be congratulated for braving some trying conditions and competing with great poise and respect for the game and their peers. Well done ladies!

Pictured below on left, A finalists, and on right, B winners.