Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, July 21, 2002

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The clay showed up a day late at the Frick Park courts, so the Pittsburgh Parks Championships, renamed the Paul G. Sullivan Championships in memory of the longtime tournament director, moved to Schenley Park this week.

The American brown clay, transported by truck from New Jersey, didn't arrive until Monday. Although the six courts at Frick Park in Regent Square have been resurfaced, they aren't expected to be available to the public until the new lines have been put down early this week.

"I was disappointed because I would have liked to have had the tournament on clay," said Jim Rudolph, the new tournament director who replaced Paul Sullivan.

Sullivan, the director for 70 of the first 71 tournaments, died in February at the age of 98.

The Schenley Park courts have a hard Plexipave surface.

"We had a fantastic number in the men's draw. The 52 was the most we've had in several years," Rudolph said. "I think a lot of people wanted to play in memory in Paul's memory."

Top-seeded Leo Sweeney (Point Breeze), who lost in the semifinals to No. 4 Dom Costa (Stanton Heights), 6-3, 6-1, was the winner of the first Paul G. Sullivan Sportsmanship Award.

Double the pleasure

The Butler Junior Tennis Association captured first place in the seventh annual West Penn Inter-Club Junior Mixed Doubles Team Championship at Butler Country Club. The tournament, which attracted teams from 12 organizations, was hosted by Whitney Snyder, head tennis professional at Butler.

Butler's team was comprised of Ike Vackstrom and Kristin Wick in the 18-under division and Matt Slamecka and Carolyn Shetter at 12-under.

The standings of the round-robin competition were determined by the total games won by both mixed doubles teams. Allegheny Country Club and Lakevue Athletic Club tied for second.

The Sportsmanship Award winners were Allegheny's Eric Goldfarb and Oxford Athletic Club North's Kelsey Birsic. Mason Cowie (Citiparks) and Sarah Lynch (Lakevue Athletic Club) received the Extra Effort awards.

Net results

Lenny Davis (Squirrel Hill) won the men's open singles title in the Citiparks Holiday Classic with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Leo Sweeney at Schenley Park. Davis and Matt Riva won the doubles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Jim Block and Frank Haley.

Sweeney defeated Gary Weinstein (Washington, Pa.), 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the men's over-35 division.

Sarah Mott (Green Tree) won the women's open singles with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Erica Todd (Regent Square) and Aldene LaCaria and Jim Rudolph captured the mixed doubles with a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Ann Graff and Matt Laute.

Edgeworth Tennis and Swim Club, Oxford Club East and Butler Junior Tennis association are tied for first in the Gold Division of the West Penn Junior League. Edgewood Tennis and Fitness Club leads the Black Division. A total of 22 teams and 440 kids are participating.

What's happening

Mark Haffner is running a specialty camp for boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 10 from beginners to advanced players this week at the Jewish Community Center Family Park in Monroeville. For more information call Barbara Milch, 412-521-8010, Ext. 244.

In addition to tennis instruction in the morning and afternoon, there will be swimming, other sports activities and lunch. The camp will provide tennis balls, rackets and court time.

"I stress sportsmanship," Haffner said. "By the end of the week, beginners will have all the basics they would need to keep going playing tennis. I want to expose them to the opportunity to try to play tennis and make it fun so they want to keep coming back to the sport."

Citiparks Tennis Academy is sponsoring camps this week and Aug. 5-9 from 9 a.m. to noon at Schenley Park. Fee is $89 per week. Registration is on the site at 9 a.m. on the Monday of the each camp week. Call, 412-244-4188.

Allegheny County's Department of Public Works is sponsoring a Class C tournament Aug. 14-21 at Boyce Park courts with competition in men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Costs are $7 for singles and $10 for doubles. Call, 412-793-4926.