ATHLETICS
Racquetball Players Dominate on the Courts
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AC played host to 280 high school students from 16 Oregon high schools at the 2011 Oregon high school racquetball state championships Jan. 26-30. Twenty-one MAC members participated
in this event, including 18 Lincoln High School players and three Central Catholic players. MAC members Tom Inglesby, Scott Cohn and Bruce Reid, as well as member Coach David Szafranski, were coaches. Lincoln High School player Sam Reid
provided an exciting fi nish to the tournament in the boys’ No. 1 fi nal, with an upset of No. 1 seed Rick Charbonneau of Oregon City. Reid shook off a slow start after losing the fi rst game and being down 9-3 in game two. Just when it looked grim, Reid came out of a timeout and began ripping pass shot after pass shot from both the backhand and forehand sides. He also kept tremendous pressure on Charbonneau with precision forehand drive serves and Z-serves to the backhand, domi- nating the tiebreaker 11-3. Other Lincoln MAC players fi nishing strong in the gold division included Carson Morford (second in boys No. 6), Catherine Barton (third girls No. 5), Rachel Wolfard (fourth girls No. 4), Harris Rosendahl (fourth boys No. 4), Billy Dougherty (fourth boys No. 5), and Connor Cohn (fourth boys No. 6). Jake Marcy, Blair Fettig and Andrew Locke
MAC was represented well at the 2011 Oregon high school racquetball championships held at MAC at the end of January. The club has a strong group of players from Lincoln and Central Catholic high schools.
Harris also made it far in the gold division in boys No. 6. Morford and Cohn battled through a huge
draw of 128 players to fi nish near the top in boys No. 6. First-year players Catherine Barton and Rachel Wolfard both showed tremendous promise, and are sure to be forces in the high school league next year. Maddie Patton was also a top-performing
fi rst-year player, fi nishing second in the blue division. Alex Meyer battled to a fourth-place blue fi nish in boys No. 4.
Other MAC singles players included Lincoln players Nate Chock, Max Lehman, Sam Friedman, Wil Edwards, Clayton Ross and Ice Budsarin. Central Catholic’s
Max Rompa, Molly Bluhm and Maddy Ritt also represented their school well during the tournament. Doubles play was just as exciting as the singles. Gold-round fi nishers included Reid/ Czopek, Meyer/Morford, Patton/Rosendahl, Dougherty/Abrams, Marcy/Fassiotto, Fettig/ Kirsch, Locke Harris/Hansen, and Chock/ Stewart. Cohn/Boadway won fi rst place in the consolation division of boys No. 3. Thanks to all the MAC racquetball players who came out to watch the action. The support was fantastic. Thanks also to MAC for hosting this great tournament. For more information, call 503-517-7590 or go to
theMAC.com. WM
Member Coach Charlie Pratt is Globetrekker for Racquetball
He started out in Kansas City, Mo., last September; fi nished the month in Columbia, South America; and returned to the United States for the San Diego IRT Stop. He then traveled to Mexico, followed by a stop in Portland, and then back to California before traveling to New York and
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Indianapolis, Indiana. Members may follow his story on the racquetball page on the MAC website.
When Pratt was six years old, his mother took him to Sunset Athletic Club to sign up for a family membership. “When I was impa- tiently waiting for her to tour the club I saw some guys playing doubles on the main court,” Pratt explains. “I asked what game it was, and since my mom played a little in college she was able to explain it to me. She signed me up for junior lessons that day, and the rest is history.” Pratt turned pro in 2009 when he got the job as the offi cial referee of
AC member Coach Charlie Pratt is traveling the world for racquetball on the pro tour.
the tour. “This was a dream come true,” he says. “I had wanted to play the tour full-time for a few years prior, but could never afford the travel expenses. The referee job took care of that for me, offering me a free hotel room, free entry to the pro division, and a nice paycheck at the end. This allowed me to not only afford it, but make a living doing it.” Pratt enjoys working with MAC juniors as a member coach but admits he was skeptical at fi rst. “I was a junior once, and looking back, I was a menace,” Pratt says. “But I was very pleased when all the kids not only behaved themselves, but listened, watched, and were enthusiastic about learning. The ages range from 6 to 14 years old, with each kid bringing their own style and character to the program. And they all get better.
“When I was fi rst starting at 6, 7, 8 years old, no one at the club wanted to play with me because I wasn’t good enough,” Pratt explains. “So I would fi nd a court in the back of the club and practice for hours. It’s funny, because by the time I was 10, I was the one being asked to play, and I was the one saying, ‘Sorry, guys! Maybe tomorrow.’” WM
APRIL 2011 | The Wınged M | 61
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