Miller Leads the Pro Division

With Saturday's win at the PeakVision Leawood Challenge, Paul Miller moves into the pole position for the MCA Nine-Wicket Series. The top eight for the Pro Division will be invited to the MCA Championship on September 14. The Pro Division singles championship will be a single elimination bracket and seeds are based on the current point rankings.

With her eight place position, Deborah Millican will have the opportunity to play in both the Pro bracket and the Gold Division tournament.

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Paul	Miller	14	10	4	309	22.07
2	Greg	Clouse	13	9	4	282	21.69
3	Dylan	Goodwin	14	9	5	272	19.43
4	Robert	Fournier	13	7	6	261	20.08
5	Ron	Millican	12	6	6	235	19.58
6	Greg	Adams	8	3	5	133	16.63
7	Matt	Smith	4	4	0	103	25.75
8	Debbie	Millican	5	3	2	99	19.80
9	Jason	Johnson	5	1	4	91	18.20
10	Carl	Distefano	5	0	5	77	15.40
11	Jodi	Adams	4	0	4	66	16.50
12	Bill	Berg	5	1	4	55	11.00
13	Keith	Berg	3	0	3	41	13.67
14	S. Jason	Cole	3	1	2	40	13.33

Johnson Retains Lead in Gold Division

Jason Johnson held on to his lead in the Gold Division despite missing out on the Gold Final this past Saturday in Leawood, Kansas. Johnson is at 170 points, but that will have to hold as he will be unable to attend the MCA Championship in September. In the meantime, Bill Berg moved up to second place with 148 points, while Deborah Millican maintained third place with 141 points.

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Jason	Johnson	8	6	2	170	21.25
2	Bill	Berg	9	5	4	148	16.44
3	Deborah	Millican	8	6	2	141	17.63
4	Keith	Berg	5	1	4	71	14.20
5	Justin	Marciniak	4	0	4	59	14.75
6	S. Jason	Cole	2	1	1	37	18.50
7	Carl	Distefano	2	0	2	22	11.00

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

PeakVision Leawood Challenge Matchups

The PeakVision Leawood Challenge will be run as an open random draw for three rounds. The first round matchups are listed below and feature high vs low players (matchups made via a random number generator - random.org). The concept is that you will play your way to the appropriate bracket. Weaker players will encounter a tough first matchup, but should filter to their appropriate level of play after round one.

Some players are in the Gold Division points chase and if they qualify for the Pro Bracket, they will be allowed to opt out in order to play in the Gold bracket. Points earned in the first three rounds will apply to the Pro Points race.

PeakVision Leawood Challenge
Round One -- 8:30 a.m.

Greg Adams vs Carl Distefano
Ron Millican vs Keith Berg
Greg Clouse vs Bill Berg
Robert Fournier vs S. Jason Cole
Paul Miller vs Jason Johnson
Dylan Goodwin vs Deborah Millican

Round Two -- 9:45 a.m.

Lunch 11:00 a.m.

Round Three -- Noon

Playoffs -- 1:15, 2:30, 3:45

 

PeakVision Sponsorship for Leawood MCA Event

PeakVision Sunglasses has signed on as the official sponsor for Saturday's Leawood Challenge. The company designs sunglasses optimized for golf and that translates perfectly to croquet. PeakVision, which is based in Overland Park, will be covering the prizes for both the Pro Division and Gold Division as part of their sponsorship. You can learn more about PeakVision Sunglasses at peakvisionsports.com, but here's a bit of a primer:

The science behind PeakVision’s hybrid, Dual-Zone lens technology is based on the principal that it is impossible for a solid-tint sunglass lens to optimize your vision for both the bright sky AND the turf.  When light-meter measurements are taken on the golf course, the lighting extremes range from 82,732 LUX for the sky down to only 3,122 LUX for the grass turf.  The lighting for ground-based viewing is less than 4% of the ambient light in the sky.

PeakVision Leawood Challenge - Saturday, July 20

Official Sponsor of the Leawood ChallengeLEAWOOD CHALLENGE CONFIRMED - SATURDAY, JULY 20

Hopefully, everyone kept this on their calendar. We have confirmed a location for the next event in the Nine-Wicket Series - The Leawood Challenge. The event will be held at the Mission Trail Elementary Soccer Field at the corner of 133rd St and Mission in Leawood, Kansas. More details:

Start time: 8:30 a.m.

Entry: $20 regular entry or $10 for MCA Members

Format: Singles 9W. Divisions dependent on number of entries.

Lunch: Lunch is not included, but we will give a longer lunch gap and restaurants are located nearby at 133rd and State Line and also on 135th Street.

HOW TO ENTER:  Contact is Dylan at kccroquetclub@gmail.com. Please indicate preferred division.

JOIN THE MCA

MCA members enjoy discounts on entry fees for most of the MCA Nine-WIcket Series events and free entry to the MCA Championship on September 14 for players that qualify. Click here for more details on MCA membership.

Update on Friday, July 12, 2013 at 9:05PM by MCA Website Admin

Players committed to date:

PRO
Dylan Goodwin
Ron Millican
Greg Adams
Paul Miller
Greg Clouse 

GOLD
Bill Berg
Carl Distefano
Keith Berg
Debbie Millican 

Update on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 9:16PM by MCA Website Admin

PRO
Dylan Goodwin
Ron Millican
Greg Adams
Paul Miller
Greg Clouse
Robert Fournier
Jason Johnson 

GOLD
Bill Berg
Carl Distefano
Keith Berg
Debbie Millican
S. Jason Cole 

Johnson Extends Lead in the Gold Division

Jason Johnson extended his lead in the Gold Division with his second title of the year at Lee's Summit this past Saturday. Bill Berg utilized his extra game in the championship to move into second place on the list. Full standings:

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Jason	Johnson	7	6	1	159	22.71
2	Bill	Berg	6	3	3	103	17.17
3	Deborah	Millican	6	4	2	98	16.33
4	Keith	Berg	4	1	3	59	14.75
5	Justin	Marciniak	4	0	4	59	14.75
6	Carl	Distefano	1	0	1	12	12.00

Lee's Summit Roster Update

As we approach the second leg of the MCA Nine-Wicket Series with the Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament this Saturday, twelve players have signed up for action. First round matchups will be announced on Thursday night, but here is the current roster with ranking. Check back for updates:

Committed:
1. Matt Smith
2. Greg Clouse
3. Dylan Goodwin
4. Greg Adams
5. Ron Millican
6. Paul Miller
7. Robert Fournier
8. Jodi Adams
9. Jason Johnson
10. Deborah Millican
11. Bill Berg
12. Keith Berg

Interest:
Justin Marciniak

Update on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 9:13PM by MCA Website Admin

Justin Marciniak has indicated that he is a strong verbal. He would slot in as number 12 in the rankings.

Bill Berg Photos From Stilwell Open

Find more photos like this on Croquet Network

Clouse Racks 'Em Up in Stilwell

Pro Division FinalistsStilwell, KS -- Greg Clouse rolled through the Stilwell Open with relative ease in the early going. Clouse took 32-9 and 32-8 wins in block play to take the number one overall seed in the Pro Division Playoff. In the semi-finals, he knocked out Paul Miller 29-12. In the championship game he survived a late attack by Dylan Goodwin to claim the Stilwell Open title with an 18-16 win. Goodwin as the three seed, had advanced with a tight 18-16 win over two-seed Ron Millican on his side of the bracket. Clouse, Goodwin and Millican were all 2-0 in block play.

PHOTO GALLERY | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

The final between Goodwin and Clouse came down to last turns. Goodwin was first ball with red and cleared 11PW to pull within two wickets of Clouse. He failed to gain a foward rush on black and then made a key mistake in trying to roll black toward 13PW while taking red toward blue near 14PW. He ended up wired and tried to jump the 15PW for the roquet on blue but missed by a foot.

The easier solution would have been to leave black and go set yellow (dead on red) in front of its wicket (six). Yellow could have then wired black from blue.

In the Gold Division, playoff Debbie Millican started as the number one seed after coming up on the short end of the gross points tiebreaker among the 1-1 block players. Debbie beat newcomer Bill Berg 14-12 in the semi-finals for a berth in the championship game. As the three seed, Jason Johnson caught fire in the semi-final and took a 32-12 win over Carl Distefano who is also brand new to the sport. In the final, Johnson took the win over Debbie with a 23-12.

First and second place in both divisions received white baseball caps with the host Kansas City Croquet Club logo.

Standings in the MCA Nine-Wicket Points Series are being tabulated and will be posted when they are available.

FINAL ORDER

Gold Division FinalistsPro Division
1. Greg Clouse
2. Dylan Goodwin
3. Ron Millican
4. Paul Miller
5. Robert Fournier

Gold Division
1. Jason Johnson
2. Debbie Millican
3. Carl Distefano
4. Bill Berg

BLOCK GAME RESULTS

A Block
Greg Clouse 32-9 over Debbie Millican
Debbie Millican 23-14 over Jason Johnson
Greg Clouse 32-8 over Jason Johnson

B Block
Dylan Goodwin 23-7 over Bill Berg
Robert Fournier 20-7 over Bill Berg
Dylan Goodwin 18-13 over Robert Fournier

C Block
Paul Miller 26-19 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 23-14 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 20-16 over Paul Miller

PRO DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Wildcard
#4 Paul Miller 23-21 over Robert Fournier

Semi-finals
#1 Greg Clouse 29-12 over #4 Paul Miller
#3 Dylan Goodwin 18-16 over #2 Ron Millican

Finals
#1 Greg Clouse 18-16 over #3 Dylan Goodwin

GOLD DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Semi-finals
#1 Debbie Millican 14-12 over #4 Bill Berg
#3 Jason Johnson 32-12 over #2 Carl Distefano

Finals
#2 Jason Johnson 23-13 over #1 Debbie Millican