Jr State Championships - 2008
Petaluma Junior Racquetball players win at State Championships The California State Junior Racquetball championships were held this past weekend in Elk Grove. Players from throughout the state attended. Kids were ages 6-18. Play started early Saturday morning and ended Sunday afternoon. There were six players from the Petaluma Valley Athletic Club (PVAC) junior racquetball program who attended. They included Manny Brazil, Tyler Llapitan, Brittany Mayo, Dima Gafarov, Sawyer Lloyd and Luke Sewall. Also in attendance were Junior instructors at PVAC, Brian Dixon and Orlando Mayo. Dixon is also the state director for Junior Racquetball.  Sawyer Lloyd competed in the 12 and under division. After winning in the semi-finals Sunday morning he was to face Bobby Sehrgosha in the finals. Sawyer and Bobby have met in the finals several times. Bobby won the state championship last year over Sawyer in a close 11-9 tie breaker. This year it was Sawyer's turn with a commanding win of 15-5, 15-6 (games are played to 15 with a tie breaker to 11 if first two are split). Sawyer and Bobby are also doubles partners playing in the 12 and under division. This year, due to lack of competition, they were moved up to the 16 and under division. They did well against the older boys, barely missing getting into the semi finals. Luke Sewall placed second in the 14 and under division, losing 10-15, 10-15 in the final. Sawyer, Luke and several other PVAC players plan to attend the Junior National championships at the end of June which will be held in Concord this year. There will be 300+ players from across the country in attendance at this event. Last year it was in Tempe, AZ. Sawyer Lloyd placed second in the 12 and under Blue division and he and his partner got second place in doubles. Junior Nationals - 2008
From Wednesday (6/25) through Sunday (6/29) the Junior National Racquetball Championships were held in Concord California. Over 200 Junior players from across the country (32 states) attended the event. Four players from the Junior Racquetball program at PVAC attended: Dan Brown, Luke Sewall, Sawyer Lloyd and Dima Wert. I have heard the term "dwindling" when some refer to Racquetball. This is not true and could be witnessed at this event. Not only the players, but parents, coaches and fans showed extreme excitement and support for the game of Racquetball.
Play began first thing Wednesday morning at the Big C Club in Concord, with additional play at the Renaissance club in Walnut Creek. Many players played as many as three different divisions and many times having to play back to back matches. The event was broadcast live online at www.racquetballonline.tv . Also in attendance all week was coach Brian Dixon. When not coaching, he was helping police the hallways, men's room and restaurant. Brian is on the California State Racquetball Association Board of Directors and is the Junior Director for the state. Also showing up for support was coach Orlando Mayo and daughter Brittany. The tournament is played Olympic style with all players starting in the Gold division. If a players loses they drop to the Red, White or Blue divisions (as an example if a player loses in round one, they drop to the Red division...If they then lose in the Red, they drop to White). Sawyer Lloyd was coming off a recent 1st place in 12 and under Boys in the California state championships. He was competing in the nationals in three divisions: 12 and under singles, 12 and under Boys doubles (partnered with Bobby Sehrgosha of Pleasanton) and 12 and under Mixed doubles(partnered with Kaitlyn Simmons of Washington). He and Kaitlyn won gold in the mixed doubles and he and Bobby also won Gold in the Boys doubles. In singles sawyer had some tough matches, but beat the #3 and #2 seeds to get to the Sunday finals. His opponent, Adam Manilla from Colorado, was name the Esprit Boy player of the year the previous night at the banquet...Their match  was a highlighted one and broadcast live over www.racquetballonline.tv (this should be available for viewing in the next couple weeks). Sawyer played Adam very tough almost taking him to a tie breaker, but lost in two games. The crowd cheered as the two walked off as it was an exciting match to watch. With Sawyer's wins he was named a Junior All American and also named to the Junior National team which will be competing in the World championships in December. Dima Wert won a Gold medal in the 12 and unders singles White division and Luke Sewall received a third place medal in the 14 and under doubles consolation. Congratulations to Sawyer and good luck to him in the World championships. Congratulations to all other PVAC Juniors for your play and setting a great example for others.!!!
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