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Women’s First Place: 2.5 Northern California (Alamo, Calif.) L to R: Gina Goforth Vitzthum, Caroline Macke, Yoonies Kim, Kerry Davis, Tracy Iler, Rosilene Campos Bleeg, Tracey Bracco, Tara Khoury, Cecily T. Barclay (not shown)
© Juan Ocampo
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Men’s First Place: 2.5 Caribbean (Cabo Rojo, P.R.) L to R: Roberto A. Lopez, Fredickson M. Vargas, Angel Luis Rivera, Francisco Sepulveda (captain), Pablo Robles Cortes, Roberto E. Maiz, Juan Carlos Ramirez, Roberto DelaTorre (captain), Andres M. Maymi
© Juan Ocampo
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By Noreen Javadi, special to USTA.com
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The USTA Caribbean Section men’s team and the USTA Northern California women’s finished an exciting weekend at the Mission Hills Country Club as they were crowned champions at the 2012 USTA League 2.5 Adult National Championships.
The Northern California women’s team from Alamo, Calif. Defeated Hawaii 2-1 in Sunday’s final and the Caribbean men’s team from Cabo Rojo, P.R., edged the Northern California men’s team 2-1 in the finals.
Both Southern Section men’s and women’s team claimed third place finishes. The men’s team defeated the Eastern Section men’s team 2-1, while the women’s team blanked the Midwest Section women’s team 3-0.
After winning the men’s championship, the Caribbean men’s team celebrated wildly on center court. Team captain Francisco "Paco" Sepulveda said, "I’m about to cry."
Amidst the cheers and boisterous celebration, Sepulveda was asked how his team planned to celebrate. He responded, "We’re going to L.A. We’re going to Disneyland!"
For the close-knit Northern California women’s team, the victory in the championship final was bittersweet as they wore pink ribbons on Sunday to support of one of their teammates whose father passed away during the tournament.