Chicagoans Linda Hoch and Sarah Williams Prevail in Bay Area

CHIZZIE BROWN and TOM MAYES
FEBRUARY 28, 2008
ROSS, CALIFORNIA

It was a fantastic, long weekend of paddle in Ross, CA. The 2008 LCC National Ranking tournament was held on Friday 1/25 – Sunday 1/27.

There were 21 Women’s teams participating in the Friday-only tournament. Teams came from Chicago, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Arizona and Rochester, NY – home of this year’s Nationals. The tournament was a great success, with Linda Hoch and Sarah Williams, our #1 seed from Chicago, outlasting transplanted local Christi Hays and her partner, tennis phenom Wendy Shpiz in a 3-set nail-biter in the “A” division. In the “B” division, Kris Klein, a local player, and her partner, Leigh Everitt from Sun Valley, beat locals Tucky Pogue and Sara Lardner in an exciting 2-setter.

But perhaps the most memorable part of the tournament was the seven inches of torrential downpour the ladies endured over the course of the day – the worst weather we have faced in a long time. As always, the players charged on, with smiles and laughter, and a generally good time was had by all.

The rainy weather cleared on Saturday as the men took to the courts. Some bad weather from around the country kept some of the traveling teams from participating this year. But, we still enjoyed participants from Denver, Sun Valley and San Diego. In all, there were 25 teams in the Men’s draws. 8 teams played in our Championship flight with the local team of Will Lyon and Tom Mayes defending their title against another local team of Jonathan Radin and John Roberts. Radin and Roberts were pushed to the limit in their semi final match up against rising stars, John Beritzhoff and Pete Woodring while Lyon and Mayes upended their long time friends from Denver, Ed and Toby Hays.

The “B” flight or Gentlemen’s Division was a dogfight from the early stages. Every team was in the hunt for the coveted Griffith Cup; so named after one of our fabled and perennial champions, Ned Griffith. The Gentlemen’s draw this year was considered one of the most balanced in recent years with no clear favorite. The #1 seed of Edward Lanphier and Bill Caulkins was upstaged in the semis by the younger team of Stew Barry and Bill Lamm. The other semi –final match up pitted sparring partners, Deryk Van Brunt and Peter Mueller against Jim Hobbs and Andy Spiegel. After a first set rout, Hobbs and Spiegel regrouped and outlasted Mueller and Van Brunt in 3 sets. The 3 set toll may have been too much though for Hobbs and Spiegel as Barry and Lamm were crowned victorious in 2 strong sets, 6-4, 6-3.

The camaraderie of the weekend was wonderful. We appreciate all of our out of town guests as they add so much depth and spirit to our event.