2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics - Review

The USA Racquetball Junior Olympics wrapped up on Sunday in Stockton, California. We have a summary of the results below, but we noting the number of participants. There were 193 players in Stockton, which is up from 154 in 2014 and 143 in 2013.

A large part of the increase is due to the number of Californians participating. Call it the host state bump. Sixty five Californians participated this year, up from 25 in 2014, and 21 in 2013. Last year when Colorado hosted the event there were 21 Colorado players in the event, compared to 9 this year. Two years ago, Iowa hosted the Junior Olympics, and there were 22 Iowans participating compared to six this year. The 2016 Junior Olympics will be in Minnesota, so based on the host state bump, we'd expected about 25 Minnesotans in the draw, as there were eight Minnesotans in Stockton.

More significantly, the number of girls participating has increased for the second consecutive year. There were 59 girls playing in Stockton compared to 44 in Colorado and 31 in Iowa. Girls made up 30.6% of the participants this year, up slightly from last year’s 28.6%, but significantly up from 21.7% in 2013.

Curiously, the number of girls in the lower age divisions is greater than the number in the older age divisions. Twenty six girls played in the U14, U16 and U18 divisions while 33 played in the age divisions below that. Whether all those younger players will continue to play into their teenage years remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, for several years now, we’ve been wondering where the female participation in USA racquetball events has been. It’s nice to see that the girls numbers are up at the Junior Olympics.

Traditionally in junior events, the Boy’s U16 is the largest, and this year was no exception, as 37 players were entered in that division in Stockton, compared to 33 in Boy’s U14 and 14 Boy’s U18.

You can see some of the matches from the 2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics at the In-Shape Sport West Lane in Stockton, California via the USA Racquetball Livestream channel.

2015 USA Racquetball Junior Olympics
Stockton, California

Boy's U14

1st - Akul Ramayani (Poughkeepsie, NY)
2nd - Antonio Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Sahil Thakur (Tracy, CA)
4th - Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)

Boy's U16

1st - Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN)
2nd - Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)
4th - Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR)

Boy's U18

1st - Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, MN)
2nd - Mauro Rojas (Stockton, CA)
3rd - Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
4th Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA)

Girl's U14

1st - Briana Jacquet (Phoenix, AZ)
2nd - Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR)
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA)
4th - Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)

Girl's U16

1st - Erika Manilla (Centennial, CO)
2nd - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, FL)
3rd - Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA)
4th - Kristine Holman (Salem, OR)

Girl's U18

1st - Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.)
2nd - Brittany Click (Huffman, TX)
3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, TX)
4th - Kara Piepenbrink (Tampa, FL)
5th - Aadhilakshmi Balasubramanian (Belle Mead, NJ)

Boy's U18 Doubles

1st - Sam Bredenbeck (Marine On St Croix, Minn.) & Jake Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
2nd - Thomas Carter (Murrysville, PA) & Kyle Ulliman (Westerville, PA)
3rd - Hayden Farmer (Trophy Club, TX) & Carlos Reyes (Janesville, WI)
4th - Luis Avila (Wilmington, CA) & Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR)
5th - Lukas Le (Arlington, TX) & Nicholas Pavloski (Kingwood, TX)
6th - Eric McEnnis (Port St. Lucie, FL) & Trevor John (Reno, NV)

Boy's U16 Doubles

1st - Wayne Antone IV (Eugene, OR) & Kevin Vazquez (Miami, FL)
2nd - Jordan Barth (Cold Spring, MN) & Justus Benson (Sun Prairie, WI)
3rd - Ellis Syke (Coon Rapids, MN) & Noah Little (Ayden, NC)
4th - Justin Ide (Beaverton, OR) & Gavin Usher (Portland, OR)

Boy's U14 Doubles

1st - Julian Singh (Pleasanton, CA) & Mitchell Turner (Salem, OR)
2nd - Brian Barberis (McKinney, TX) & Nick Birnel (Bellingham, WA)
3rd - Ben Baron (Phoenix) & Tommy Andraos (Laguna Niguel, CA)
4th - Micah Farmer (Trophy Club, Texas) & Lucas Shoemaker (Bettendorf, IA)

Girl's U16/U18 Doubles

1st - Jordan Cooperrider (Palm Harbor, Fla.) & Erika Manilla (Centennial, Col.)
2nd - Hollie Scott (Lynden, WA) & Lexi York (Milwakie, Ore.)
3rd - Karina Quintanilla (Harlingen, Tex.) & Daniela Torres (San Antonio, Tex.)
5th - Kristine Holman (Salem, Ore.) & Madison Kerzel (Salem, Ore.)
6th - Alanna Shea (Cortland Manor, NY) & Reena Sheth (Amawalk, NY)

Girl's U14 Doubles

1st - Brian Jacquet (Phoenix) & Kaitlyn Boyle (Beaverton, OR)
2nd - Graciana Wargo (Clearwater, FL) & Elena Dent (Lumberton, NC)
3rd - Nikita Chauhan (San Ramon, CA) & Megan Carver (Spokane, WA)

Follow the bouncing ball….