|
The Junior High Team Championship is starting to feel the affects of the scholastic chess explosion. The large numbers of kids that have been filling the Elementary and Primary tournaments over the last 4 years or so are now reaching this age. The 62 team event looks amazing when compared to the 41 just two years ago and “only” 32 in 2000. There has even been talk of adding a reserve section or finding some other way to divide this group up.
|
|
Pete Nixon took on the duties of chief TD and organizer for the tournament, which was held on February 8, 2003 at Boynton School in Detroit. Helping Pete out on the floor were high schoolers Larry Hooker, Joseph Gadson, and Shawn Rayon.
|
|
The MCA policy of guaranteeing teams with 3.5 points or more a trophy pushed the team trophy winners out to 16th place. Rounding out the winners was Detroit Paul Robeson Academy’s A team in 16th place with the required 3.5 points. This team’s top scorer was silver medallist Jonathan Evans with 4 points. Robeson started out strong with three victories, but was held to a loss and draw the last two rounds. Monroe High School’s B team finished 15th and was just one of four prize winners from the Monroe school district. Third board Ashton Duchenne took home a silver for his 4 point performance and first board Matt Moran took a bronze. 14th place Detroit Barbour A had a pair of silver medal winners in Will Johnson and Keteeva Bethea. A team full of unrated players, Birmingham Covington A, had an excellent result finishing in 13th place. Second board Roger Jia earned a silver with 4 points and fourth board Randy Jia earned a bronze. Detroit Finney A had three of their players earn medals in a 12th place performance. Christopher Ramsey and Cedric Jones scored four points. First board Derek Wilder took a bronze. The B team from Detroit Hutchins put in a strong performance with an 11th place finish. They had Robert Forsyth score a bronze and two silver medallists in Anthony Hunter and Kristen Walker. Monroe Middle School showed their depth with the C team taking the 10th place trophy. They were led by a pair of 4 pointers in Charles Knabusch III and John Paquette. Another Detroit Hutchins team scored 3.5 points; this time the A team taking 9th. Boards two, three, and four each claimed a silver, which were Cassidy Spearman, David Smith, and Eric Stokely, respectively. The top 3.5 point team on tie-breaks was 8th place finisher Spring Lake A. They were led by board one gold medallist Jonathan Budzenski and silver medallist Mark Gustafson on board four.
|
|
Five teams were able to score four points. In 7th place, Otsego St. Margarets A struck gold on both board one and two. Congratulations to Brendon Farrell and Mark Soisson. Brighton A took 6th place and had a medallist of each color. Board two Jeffrey Hochstadt won gold, board three Joey Bernier won silver, and board one Joshua Maddock won bronze. Detroit Fisher A finished strong to take 5th place. They had a gold medallist on board two with Maurice McKinzie and a silver medallist on board three with Dionta Thompson. 4th place finisher Okemos Kinawa A won their first four matches and was playing for the championship in the last round, but came up just short. Justin Brereton and Stephen Wald won silvers and Hal Morley scored a bronze. Detroit Bates A was the top 4 point team and took the 3rd place trophy. Board one through three all scored 4 points to earn silver medals. They were Ibrahim Haugabook, Christopher Waston, and Ayanna Rogers.
|
|
Which leaves up with the last two teams. Since they were both from Monroe Middle School, I might as well mention them together. The 2nd place B team scored 4.5 points, only held to a draw in round three by Birmingham Covington B. This team consisted of Collin Smelcer (gold), Christian Murphy, Katrina Snyder (silver), and Kate Gladieux (silver). The Junior High Team Champions are Monroe’s A team with a perfect 5 point score. The consisting of Ashley Carter, Derek Robinson (gold), Brad Castellese (bronze), and Jacob Skarbek (silver).
|
|
