First Annual “Pickle in the Peaks” is In the Books!

Summit County’s first pickleball tournament, held July 20-21 at Rainbow Park, went fabulously, greatly exceeding our expectations for a first effort. 

• More than 100 individual players competed, together forming 60+ doubles teams.  It was a high turnout, especially since two nearby and more established tournaments occurred the same weekend. 
• We had competitive, but good-natured, play across nine divisions, which we designed on the basis of gender — men’s, women’s and mixed — and USAPA skill ratings — beginner/novice (ratings 1.0 to 3.0), intermediate (3.5), and advanced (4.0 to 5.0).  
• For at least a third of players, this was their first tournament ever.
• A total of 175 pickleball games were played.
• The 100+ players included visitors from Steamboat, Vail, Denver metro area, and even England and Australia.

Congratulations to the Medalists

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Mixed Doubles 3.0-	Peter Welles Pam Horstman	Anita Welles Tom Reynolds	Eric Dargevics Terri Furman
Mixed Doubles 3.5	Bob Worthington Annette Visser	Rick Bell Caren Danielson	Richard Sullivan Wendy Tilden
Mixed Doubles 4.0+	Patti Pyle Stan Johnson	David Taylor Sandy Rice	Paul Jones Wendy Markley
Men’s Doubles 3.0-	Richard Stetzer Marty Stenzler	Eric Nicholds Eric Fischer	Arthur Lock Jeff Pinkerton
Men’s Doubles 3.5	Eric Dargevics Stan Johnson	Mike Miller Rick Bell	Tom Stanar John Bowerman
Men’s Doubles 4.0+	Junior Serenil Senior Serenil	David Taylor Mark Puls	Matt Stephens Chris Burns
Women’s Doubles 3.0-	Wendy Tilden Joan Veazey	Karen Miller Kay Ogano	Anita Wells Pam Horstman
Women’s Doubles 3.5	Margaret Ellison Ann Johnson	Linda Bush Caroline Falkenburg	Jennilee Reiss Josie Anderson
Women’s Doubles 4.0+	Patti Pyle Sandy Rice	Juli Young Nancy Dowell	Wendy Markley Trudy Chaille

The weather was as beautiful as the mountain backdrop.  The vibe was relaxed and sportsmanlike.  

Our crack Tournament Directors, Lori Miller and Julie Worthington collaborated with Town of Silverthorne Sports and Athletics Coordinator, Mindy Nicholds, designed a super well-organized court layout and operations to keep things moving with only minimal standing around between games.  

Many volunteers put in hours of help. Key roles were played by Jerry Veazey, Mike Miller, Bill Clark, Bob Worthington, Gary Myers, Ruthie Kimmons, Steph Race, Dana Cottrell, Wendy Tildon, Rick Bell, Trudy Chaille, and Peggy Stafsholt.