National

It's five champs & five sections for

USTA League 40+ Mixed

E.J. Crawford  |  November 13, 2017
USTA League Nationals 40 & Over 6.0 Mixed Doubles Champions: USTA Caribbean (Bayamon, PR): L to R, Front: Eliseo Maldonado, Sylvia Lopez, Jessica Ramirez, Araceli Medina, Jossie Cepero, Rafael Lopez. Back: Henry Carrion, Javier Olaechea, Juan Rivera Jones.
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Rain forced much of Sunday’s play in Mobile, Ala., indoors, but it could not stop the five teams – from five different sections – that emerged as the winners at the 2017 USTA League 40 & Over Mixed Doubles National Championships.

 

The champions were: the 6.0 squad from Bayamon, P.R., representing USTA Caribbean; the 7.0 team from Tallahassee, Fla., representing USTA Florida; the 8.0 teams from Montgomery County, Md., representing USTA Mid-Atlantic, and from Houston, representing USTA Texas; and the 9.0 squad from Los Gatos, Calif., representing USTA Northern California.

 

Bayamon claimed its 6.0 crown with a pair of 2-1 victories in the final rounds – first over the Mid-Atlantic squad from College Park, Md., in the semifinals and then against the Texas section team from Dallas in the final. ADVERTISEMENT USTA Caribbean was captained by Juan Rivera Jones and included Araceli Medina, Eliseo Maldonado, Henry Carrion, Javier Olaechea, Jessica Ramirez, Jossie Cepero, Rafael Lopez and Sylvia Lopez. 

 

Tallahassee was also pushed to 2-1 in the 7.0 semifinals but survived to oust another Bayamon team. The Florida squad then had an easier time of it in the final, winning 2-0, against the Hawaii-Pacific team from Honolulu. Florida, which plays at the Forestmeadows Park and Athletic Center in Tallahassee, was captained by Denean Sykes and featured Andrew Lawyer, Clark Kuntz, Ken Seymore, Kevin Warner, Lori Elliott, Melissa Jaacks, Sarah Duke, Sharon Dailey, Theresa Ransom and Travis Sykes.

The 8.0 division declared co-champions after rain delayed play and the teams from Montgomery County and Houston had to catch flights back home. Montgomery County reached the title tilt by dismissing the Whitter, Calif., team from USTA Southern California, 2-0, in the semifinals, while Houston advanced with a 2-1 victory over Pinole Park from Northern California.

 

The Maryland squad was captained by Marketa Chromkova and featured Debbie Boger, Dong Ko, Elissa Lei, Endre Esztergomi, Henry Cha, Jean Lim, Jessica Lee, Jonathan Vissering, Nita Elie, Steven Manning and Bill Gehrke. The Texas team, which plays out of Lee Le Clear Tennis Facility in Houston, was captained by Thy Regent and featured Daniel Young, Elizabeth Emerson, Emma Nguyen, Kristian Huynh, Michael Martinez, Monica Ramirez, Olivia Wan, Phong Regent, Stacy Tea and Tomas Huynh.

 

Northern California claimed the final title of the weekend, at the 9.0 level, behind a 2-1 semifinal victory over the Florida team from St. Petersburg and a 3-0 win in the final over the USTA Missouri Valley team from Cedar Rapids. Los Gatos was captained by Ray Vallejo and Christa Ivancovich and included Kitty Yuen, Roman Olmos, Rose Kent, Sunye Vuong, Suzanne Jochner, Tina Okawa, Andrew Ngo, Brian Heimbecker, Brian Jacobsen, Christine Choye and Tom Kent.

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