Two Aggie players medal at racquetball nationals
Last weekend, five members of the Utah State racquetball club traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the National Collegiate Racquetball Tournament.
Utah State was not able to take a full team to the tournament, but Aggies Ricardo Soto, Dallas Arnell, Chris Atkin, Chad Earl and Tom Allred competed individually. Teams are allowed six men and six women for singles, as well as players for doubles and mixed doubles.
Overall, the team placed 17th out of 33 teams, while two team members, Atkin and Arnell, medalled. Atkin took fourth in the men’s division three blue bracket while Arnell took third in the division two white bracket.
Divisions are based upon the seedings of players for each team. Number one seeds play in division one, number two seed play in division two, with the rest of the divisions set up in s similar manner.
For Utah State, Soto was seeded one, Arnell two, Atkin three, Earl four, and Allred five. Soto and Arnell played first doubles and Earl and Atkin played second doubles.
Racquetball is not an NCAA sanctioned sport, but some of the schools take it very seriously and have scholarship players, said Arnell. These schools get funding from alumni and the community for scholarships and recruit players from junior nationals.
“There were some pretty impressive players at the tournament,” Arnell said.
In the past, Utah State has done well in the tournament, usually earning a top-10 finish. This year though, inexperience played a big role. Four team members were attending the tournament for the first time, said Atkin. Soto alone had experience at nationals.
“I thought we did well as a team,” Arnell said. “We had expectations of getting creamed and we all competed. It was a good experience, and we competed well.”
Another factor was injuries. Soto injured his knee in his second match and nearly had to forfeit his third. Earl also experienced several injuries. He had tendonitis in both knees and his arm, as well as a shoulder injury. If he had won, he wouldn’t have been able to continue playing, Earl said.
Being short a few players hurt the team. Points for overall standings are earned by winning matches, and without a full team, fewer matches are played and there are fewer opportunities to earn those points. Each player is guaranteed three matches.
Atkin said the team plans to work very hard to improve performance for next year. He said they need more players, especially women, and those interested in playing should look for fliers next fall or contact a team member.
“Nationals was an awesome experience,” Earl said. “I believe it was a huge learning experience for the team.”