Ellie Griffith Sweeps Gold Division at 2018 MCA Championship

Ellie Griffith won her first MCA Championship tournament on the way to placing first in the 2018 MCA Nine Wicket Series Gold Division points race.

Executing a series of immaculate roll-up shots and long, accurate split shots, Griffith cruised to a 27-12 victory against runner-up Brevin Millican.

Similar to her performance at the KC Open on the same court six weeks ago, Griffith broke through to the double wickets on the far side of the court with some ease while her opponent struggled to advance his balls past wicket three during the early phase of the game.

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KC Open Gold Report: Marciniak Makes It Interesting

Parkville, Mo.—Justin Marciniak won all five of his games Saturday to place first in the Gold division at the 2018 Kansas City Open at Kactus Creek Croquet Club.

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Ellie Griffith Goes 5-1, Gets Gold Win at 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament

Ellie Griffith played consistent croquet all day to cruise to a first-place finish at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament.

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Last Turns Action Hero

After a day of battle at the 2017 Eagles' Landing Missouri Open, the MCA Pro Division title came down to a last turns run by Matt Smith as he claimed a tight 26-20 win over Matt Griffith on Saturday afternoon.

The event was held at Eagles's Landing Golf Course in Belton, Missouri and drew 17 of the MCA's best battling in Pro and Gold divisions half of the Gold players falling into a Silver Division playoff.

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Gabe Gets Gold at 2017 Lee’s Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament

Gabe Airrington took his success at the Lee’s Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament to the next level on Saturday.

Returning to Howard Park, the site of his first tournament victory in the Silver Division in 2015, Airrington went undefeated in combined Gold/Silver Division block play in the morning and knocked out the four and two seeds to take first place in the Gold playoff in the afternoon. His block wins over the eventual Silver Division finalists, Eddie Mondt and Wanda Jackson, and his triumphs in the Gold Division proved he belongs in the Gold group in 2017 after a dominant 2016 in the Silver Division.

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2013 MCA Championship: Miller Sweeps the Pro Division

BELTON, MO - It didn't necessarily come easy, but Paul Miller from Eldorado, KS finished strong to claim both the 2013 MCA Pro Point Series and the MCA Pro Championship. As the number one seed, Miller started off with a 26-24 nail-biter against number eight seed Jodi Adams. A loss there would have certainly damaged Millers chances in the overall points race.

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2013 MCA Championship: Gold Division Full of Surprises

BELTON, MO - The 2013 MCA Gold Division Championship offered a day full of surprises. The scene was set with both Bill Berg and Deborah Millican looking to snatch the overall points title as leader Jason Johnson was unable to attend the event. Essentially, both Millican and Berg had a great chance to pass Johnson just by advancing.

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Clouse Wins KC Invitational

PARKVILLE, MO -- MCA member Greg Clouse took first place at the 40th Edition of the Kansas City Invitational Tournament held this past Saturday in Parkville, MO. The event was six-ball (cutthroat) croquet. Overall, the MCA had three members in the final as Jodi Adams took fourth place and Ron Millican took sixth. Full results:

1. Greg Clouse 2. Brian Wolkey 3. Sandra Gruefe 4. Jodi Adams 5. Brian Mondt 6. Ron Millican 

PeakVision Leawood Challenge: Miller Begins Streak

Miller and Clouse in the Pro FinalLEAWOOD, KS -- Paul Miller took his second straight MCA tournament with a 28-16 win over Greg Clouse in the Pro Division Final of the PeakVision Leawood Challenge. In the Gold Division, Deborah Millican took the title with a 21-7 win over Bill Berg in the final.

PHOTO GALLERY | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

In the Pro Division final, Clouse looked to be in good shape as he ran his break through the turn until he croqueted a ball out of bounds near 11PW from the turn stake area with a hand shot. That's right, Clouse got enough power on the nine-wicket style hand stop shot to travel at least 30 feet. Of course, the game was held on court two which was the fastest of the three courts, and in this case it was costly for Clouse.

He did have a chance later in the game, but he roqueted his partner to work on an attack toward blue with his red ball. Unfortunately, he was dead on blue and in an odd twist Miller mentioned it to him before he actually hit the blue ball. Still, it was a damaging error and it helped Miller snatch control of the game.

Not only was it Miller's second straight tourney win, but he's also got a nine-game winning streak going as he was a perfect 6-0 in the event.

Gold FinalistsGold Final Experiences Sequence Issues

The Gold Division Final between Berg and Millican will mainly be remembered for a lengthy delay due to a potential out of sequence play midway through the game. Unfortunately, although something appeared to be out of whack, neither player could piece together the actual sequence error.

Play had to continue as the balls lay. It seemed to fire up Millican though as she went on a tear shortly after to roll to a 21-7 win. Berg was the only player to work in six games during the event so fatigue could have also been a factor.

Prize Package

Click to Find Out More About PeakVision's SD7 ModelKansas City Croquet Club member Paul Moore and CEO/Founder of PeakVision Sports came through with a great set of prizes. Finalists in both divisions were each awarded a of pair PeakVision Sunglasses.

Pro Playoff Results

ROUND ONE
#3 Robert Fournier over #6 Greg Adams 27-15
#4 Ron Millican over #5 Dylan Goodwin 21-17 

SEMI-FINALS
#2 Greg Clouse over #3 Robert Fournier 22-21
#1 Paul Miller over #4 Ron Millican 28-14

FINAL
#1 Paul Miller over #2 Greg Clouse 28-16

Gold Playoff Results

ROUND ONE
#4 S. Jason Cole over #5 Keith Berg 23-12
#3 Bill Berg over #6 Carl Distefano 10

SEMI-FINALS
#1 Deborah Millican over #4 S. Jason Cole 22-14
#3 Bill Berg over #2 Jason Johnson 15-11

FINAL
#1 Deborah Millican over #3 Bill Berg 21-7

It's Miller Time

Paul Miller won the Pro Division

Lee's Summit, MO - Paul Miller of El Dorado, Kansas battled through a full day of Pro Division action at the Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament in Lee's Summit, MO to win the overall title. He beat Dylan Goodwin in 17-15 in the final.

PHOTO GALLERY | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

The Pro Division had eight players and utilized three rounds of a random draw that matched up players with equal wins in each round. Matt Smith took the top seed out of the draw with a 3-0 record. He defeated Jodi Adams in round one of the playoff then withdrew. Miller was the five seed on that side of the bracket and advanced with an 18-17 win over four seed Greg Adams. The withdrawal of Smith gave Miller a bye to the championship.

On the other side of the bracket, Goodwin was the two seed, based on a 2-1 record with the loss being 22-21 nail-biter against Matt Smith. He played Greg Clouse in round one, after finishing the draw with a narrow 16-15 win over Clouse. The playoff went a little better as Goodwin won 28-9. Robert Fournier was the three seed and defeated six seed Ron Millican 22-17 to advance to the semi-finals against Goodwin.

Click for full photo galleryFournier had a last turns opportunity after going cross court to roquet his own corner ball resting in corner two. He tried a long peel at the 10PW that failed and left himself with a tough hoop shot and Goodwin prevailed 21-18. 

In the final, Miller took early control when he stole an early break from Goodwin by placing his blue ball between red and black near wicket wicket three. Red was dead on blue and it reversed the set up and made a break for Miller.

Goodwin picked his way around the court to get back into the game and during last turns set a break for red near the 11PW that could have been the winner, but he left an opportunity for Miller to hit yellow. He ricocheted off the center wicket but did indeed hit yellow and gave red a tough hit-in on black back near the turning steak. Goodwin missed and Miller celebrated the 17-15 win. 

JOHSON WINS GOLD
In the Gold Division, Jason Johnson now has a two-tourney win streak going as he defeated Bill Berg 18-10 in the final to take the title. The win gave Johnson a chance to avenge a 20-16 loss to Berg earlier in the day.

FINAL ORDER

Pro Division

1. Paul Miller (3-2)
2. Dylan Goodwin (4-2)
3. Matt Smith (4-0)
4. Robert Fournier (3-2)
5. Greg Adams (2-2)
6. Ron Millican (1-3)
7. Greg Clouse (1-3)
8. Jodi Adams (0-4)

Gold Division

1. Jason Johnson (4-1)
2. Bill Berg (3-2)
3. Deborah Millican (3-1)
4. Keith Berg (1-3)
5. Justin Marciniak (0-4)