Aug. 16, 2002

Three hundred and five matches were played over two weekends as the Green Tennis Center at Mizzou hosted the Show-Me State Tennis Tournament. The Adult Tournament was on July 19-21, and July 26-28 was the Junior Tournament.

"I've played in this in the past, and this one was very well run", said Chris Prestigiacomo, winner of the Men's B Singles Division. "Things were organized and ran smoothly. That facility is beautiful."

The Show-Me State Games is an annual Olympic-style sports festival for Missouri amateur athletes of all ages and ability levels. It has grown into one of the largest state games in the country. The state-of-the-art Green Tennis Center opened in January and is the home to the MU women's tennis team, and a growing Columbia membership. The facility is located off Providence Road, just south of Reactor Field. For more information on the Green Tennis Center, go to www.mutigers.com and click on the Green Tennis Center at Mizzou icon.

"This was a lot of work, but was also a lot of fun," said Blake Starkey, Director of Tennis Operations at Mizzou. "It was our first tournament, and we'll be hosting more in the future. We had great award ceremonies where seven-year olds placed winning medals around their parents' necks Olympic-style, and that was really neat to watch. This was a great event for the community."

"Watching the kids compete was awesome, seeing as we work with most of them," said Jason Falzone, head pro at the Green Tennis Center. Most of the semi-finals and finals in the junior divisions featured players who are active in the Green Tennis Center's academy-style Competitive Edge. The Green Tennis Center has become a fixture on the junior front as the GTC offers all levels of junior development (Tiger Cubs and Tiger Stripes for beginners, Intermediate Programs, and the academy-style Competitive Edge). To complement group programs, beginning, advanced, and intermediate junior players can take lessons or have hitting work-outs with any of the GTC teaching staff.

SHOW-ME STATE TENNIS MEDAL WINNERS:

Adult Doubles Divisions:

Women's 35-and-over Doubles
Jones/Lovig - Gold
Cox/Everett - Silver
Urquilla/Woodard - Bronze

Men's 55-and-over Doubles
Favazza/Schupp - Gold
Crowson/Wickersham - Silver
Gage/Reyes - Bronze

B Mixed Doubles
Frazier/Frazier - Gold
Trice/ Bartolacci - Silver
Fahmy/Rahm - Bronze

Men's A Doubles
Jaeger/Jaeger - Gold
Matheny/Matheny - Silver
Sabyasachi/Rahm - Bronze

35- and-over Mixed Doubles
Lovig/Finley - Gold
Kaissi/Lin - Silver
Omo/Enderle - Bronze

Men's 35-and-over Doubles
Jaeger/Enderle - Gold
Houston/Parks - Silver
Goodfellow/Leuci - Bronze

Open Mixed Doubles
Drake/Drake - Gold
Price/Wood - Silver
Hickey/Hickey - Bronze

Men's Open Doubles
Trice/Edwards - Bronze

Men's 45-and-over Doubles
Edwards/Watts - Gold
Elder/Maupin - Silver
Schlueter/Schlueter - Bronze

Adult Singles Divisions:

Men's 45-and-over Singles
B.Houston - Gold
J.Zimmershield - Silver
R.Riddlemoser - Bronze

Men's A Singles
M.Matheny - Gold
A.Cole - Silver

Men's B Singles
C.Prestigiacomo - Gold
J.Frazier - Silver
B.Fowler - Bronze

Men's 35-and-over Singles
B.Loeb - Gold
B.Houston - Silver

Men's Open
R.Nosic - Gold
R. Carney - Silver
J. Greene - Bronze