2008 35th Junior Olympic Racquetball Championshipspresented by Penn Racquet SportsStory and photos by Leo VasquezUSA Racquetball Media
l-r: Jose Rojas, Sharon Jackson, Ismael Aldana, Erika Manilla, and Adam Manilla.
The 2008 USA Racquetball Junior Olympic Racquetball Championships recognized top achievers at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday night. With a standing room only crowd inside the Big C Athletic Club, John Ellis began the night by recognizing all of the finalists in over 30 divisions. All the juniors were awarded a certificate for their accomplishment and received a thunderous round of applause.U.S. Junior Team Head Coach Kelley Beane and U.S. Junior Esprit Coach Jen Meyer were given the honor of presenting the top awards recognizing outstanding performance and accomplishments for 2008. The winners selected were nominated by their fellow players.Male Junior Athlete of the Year-Jose Rojas, Female Junior Athlete of the Year-Sharon Jackson, Junior Sportsman of the Year-Ismael Aldana, Female Esprit Athlete of the Year-Erika Manilla, Male Esprit Athlete of the Year-Adam Manilla.Super Sunday featured No.1 Jose Rojas as he defeated No. 6 Danny Lavely in the finals of the Boy's 18-under singles division, 15-1, 15-9. The Girl's 18-under division was won by No. 1 Sharon Jackson as she defeated No. 2 Sheryl Lotts, 15-1, 15-5.Also, No.1 Taylor Knoth took out No. 2 Bradley Kirch in two exciting games 15-11, 15-11 to win gold in the Boy's 16-under singles division.The Boy's 14-under singles had No. 1 and No. 2 go at it as Marco Rojas and Jose Diaz (respectively) battled it out with Rojas winning 15-3, 15-9 in the finals.The Girl's 16-under singles was played on Saturday and Aubrey O'Brien defeated Danielle Key in the finals to win the gold medal. The Girl's 14-under singles were also played as Devon Pimentelli defeated Courtney Chisholm in the finals to win gold.The Junior Olympics is a U.S. Junior National Team Qualifier which means one-year appointments were awarded to the top finishers in 18-Gold Singles, 16-Gold Singles, 14-Gold Singles in Boy's and Girl's divisions and also the winners of the boy's and girl's doubles. The USA Junior Team has been announced and will be competing at the 2008 IRF 20th Junior World Racquetball Championships, in December at the Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.
Junior Nationals MessageFrom Erika Manilla