Oxford wins 3rd straight interclub crown
VALENCIA— With a little extra effort, Oxford Athletic Club made it a three-peat.
Forced into a three-way playoff at the 13th annual West Penn Interclub Junior Tennis Championships, Oxford defeated the Butler Junior Tennis Association and Forest Hills Swim Club in the extra round of play Thursday.
The six-club event, consisting of junior mixed doubles divisions of age 18-and-under and 12-and-under, was scheduled for the Butler Country Club courts. It was moved to the indoor courts of Lake Vue Athletic Club because of rain.
"We appreciate Lake Vue's hospitality,"BCCtennis pro Whitney Snyder said. "We took up half of their building for four hours."
After the round-robin format was complete, Oxford, Butler Junior Tennis and Forest Hills all had 10 points. Oxford's 18-under duo of Andrew Todd and Lisa Gorski, and 12-under pair of Stephen Chuirazzi and Sidney Boyd, finished second in their respective divisions.
The Butler Junior Tennis 12-under team of A.J. May and Maddie Miranda won that division, while Forest Hills' 18-under duo of Adam Neidig and Megan Kimizata won their division.
"This was a healthy, positive day,"Snyder said. "There was a lot of good tennis, good sportsmanship and a lot of friendships were made between the clubs."
Oxford won the overall championship for a third consecutive time. Butler Junior Tennis wound up second in the official final standings. Its 18-under team of Zac McCafferty and Courtney Gallagher finished third in its division.
Forest Hills finished third overall, Lake Vue fourth, Butler Country Club and Chapel Gate tied for fifth.
Lake Vue's players were Nathan Steele and Linah Richer (18-under), and brother-sister combo Tarek and Tristyn Maalouf (12-under).
BCC's foursome consisted of Jack Boros and Jessica Holden (18-under), and Cam Sedwick and Madison Bauer (12-under).
"This event is like a midseason all-star game, with the best junior players from each club representing their organizations,"Snyder said. "I invited 30 clubs in Western Pennsylvania to participate and got six.
"Butler isn't centrally located and that hurts us. Some pros don't want to bring their kids this far right around the holiday. ... It's a shame."
Sportsmanship awards went to Dan Tabas (boy) of Chapel Gate and Boyd (girl) of Oxford. Extra effort awards went to McCafferty and Richer.
Madeline Konesni, an assistant pro with Snyder from 2005-07, volunteered her time and was in charge of the ball boys and girls.
Snyder's current assistant pros, Natalie Jenereski, Katherine Sylvia, Matt Kaye and Alisa Green, helped run the event as well.
