Pacific Northwest Handball

2002 Washington State

In some respects, the 2002 Washington State Handball Tournament was a tournament for the ages. At least, of the ages when it cam to the Open Singles Division. ***Defending Open Champion Glenn Carden, who recently turned 50, gave up 17 years to Spokane's Jay Balkenbush but still gave him a battle before going down in the semi-finals. ***When the 33-year old Balkenbush stepped on the court at the Bremerton Tennis and Athletic Club for Sunday's finals, he was giving up 17 years to Lynnwood's Sean Lenning. ***Lenning, the lanky 16-year old with those loose wrists and whip-like hands, had little trouble whipping Balkenbush. Lenning usually comes our firing in the first game, and he did, pouncing on Balkenbush early. The kid cruised to an impressive 21-2, 21-13 victory. ***It was Lenning's first state Open Championship and certainly won't be his last. ***Seattle's Joe Hagen gave Lenning his toughest test, if you want to call a 21-11, 21-14 match tough. Hagen made a number of acrobatic returns, but didn't have enough firepower to stay with the best national junior player in the country. ***A total of 101 players entered the tournament, which nearly doubled last year's turnout in Yakima. ***There weren't enough entries to have an Open Doubles category. The Masters (over 40) doubles field, however, was a strong one. Bremerton's Carden and Jim Spencer, the defending national champs in the 45+ doubles, were a late scratch after Spencer couldn't shake a nasty bug. ***Yakima lefty Mike Moore and Snohomish's crafty Bryce Siegel, who'd never played together, pulled out three tough victories to win the title, stopping Lynnwood's Bruce Ellis and Larry Lenning in the finals 21-8, 16-21, 11-6. Moore, the former minor-league baseball player, unleashed some power serves that proved to be the difference in the tie-breaker. ***George Thomas had reason to be proud of his gang from his MAC-Courts in Lynnwood. ***Mac's Larry Norton and Greg Bellinger, who are getting better with age, made it look surprisingly easy by sailing past the respected due of Carl Mattson and Ron Ewing 21-2, 21-8 in the 50+ doubles final. ***Lynnwood's Jordan Olsen, one of Sean Lenning's pals who's been turned on to handball, shoed a lot of poise and potential while winning the C singles crown. ***The A singles competition provided some excellenet handball over the weekend and Tacoma's Hayes brothers - Jon and Bill - found themselves in another finals. Both had to win tie-breakers in the semi-finals to get there with John Hayes coming from behind to beat Bremerton's George Wiggins. A year ago, Bill, (the one with the USHA logo tatooed on his arm) beat John in the state B finals. This time, Jon was error-free and aggressive from the get-go in winning 21-8, 21-3. ***Carden, the Washington State Chairman for the United States Handball Association, served as tournament director. In addition to the four courts at the Bremerton Tennis and Athletic Club, two courts at the Kitsap Family YMCA were used on Friday and Satyurday. As promised on the entry form, there was food and refreshments available from the time the tournament startred until it ended. The tournament committee also gave away 10 pairs of gloves in a free raffle. Winners received a handball bag and a pair of gloves. Second-place finishers and consolation winners received a pair of gloves. There's already been discussion about bringing the state tournament back to Bremerton in 2003. ***Open Singles: 1st-Sean Lenning, 2nd-Jay Balkenbush. ***A Singles: 1st-Jon Hayes, 2nd-Bill Hayes. ***50+ Singles: 1st-Carl Mattson, 2nd-Steve Sand. ***60+ Singles: 1st-Ron Baker, 2nd-Rod Finkle. ***B Singles: 1st-Randy LaRiviere, 2nd-Rob Price. ***C Singles: 1st-Jordan Olsen, 2nd-David Krawetz. ***Rookie Singles: 1st-Joe Geiger, 2nd-Jason Collins. ***40+ Doubles: 1st-Mike Moore/Bryce Siegel, 2nd-Larry Lenning/Bruce Ellis. ***50+ Doubles: 1st-Larry Norton/Greg Bellinger, 2nd-Carl Mattson/Ron Ewing. ***60+ Doubles: 1st-Lea McMillan/Dave Kerrone, 2nd-Ron Baker/Rich Haldi. ***B Doubles: 1st-Al Vinson/Bruce Prout, 2nd-Mike McGowan/Roland Mills. ***C Doubles: 1st-Mark Linkemyer/David Krawetz, 2nd-Paul Singh/Jeff Moore.

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Posted on 19 Feb 2006 by Glenn