St. Johns 1st, Ocala 4th at USTA League 40 & Over 3.0 Tennis Nationals

The 40 & Over 3.0 national champions from St. Johns

Florida teams won a USTA League National Championship and finished in 4th place over the weekend at the USTA League 40 & Over 3.0 National Championships at the Hilton El Conquistador Resort in Tucson, Ariz.

The women’s 40 & Over 3.0 team, which plays out of Julington Creek Plantation in St. Johns, won the 40 & Over 3.0 women’s title, in the final defeating the USTA Pacific Northwest Section (Portland, Ore.) 3-2.

Earlier in the day the St. Johns Women defeated a team from San Antonio, Texas 3-2 in the semifinals. They advanced to the semifinals by winning their round-robin flight contested on Friday and Saturday.

Their season roster was comprised of Michele Jordan (captain), Julia McLaughlin, Tina Schumacher, Tara Capuano, Dorri Hall, Tina Townsend, Sandra Boney, Molly Sanford, Lisa Permenter, Tracy Tripp, Patricia Britto, Pamela Belcher, Leslie de Jong, Pamela Bell, Sandy Kemp, and Laurie Teichman.

It was the first championship finish for a USTA Florida team during the 2016 USTA League National Championships season thus far.

The men’s 40 & Over 3.0 4th place national finishers from Ocala

The men’s 40 & Over 3.0 team, which plays out of the Ft. King Tennis Center in Ocala, finished fourth in men’s play over the weekend, falling in the 3rd/4th place playoff match to USTA Texas (Dallas) 5-0.

Prior to the playoff the Ocala men advanced to the semifinals by winning their round-robin flight contested on Friday and Saturday, then in the semifinals lost to USTA Intermountain (Las Vegas, Nev.).

The Ocala men’s season roster was comprised of Jerry McLauchlin (captain), James Saxon, Steve Gray, Howard Hitchcock, Robert Salat, Michael Holloway, George Velez, William Thomas, Thomas Mathew, Danny York, John Zito, Eric Missett, Chip Hurst, John Berg, and Jay Rubin.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year to more than 904,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league. The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older.

The 2016 USTA League season is the fourth season with an updated structure and format that offers four age categories (Adult 18 & Over, Adult 40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. A fifth age division, the Mixed 40 & Over, was added in 2014.

To learn more about USTA Leagues in Florida go to www.ustaflorida.com/leagues.

For more info on USTA League Nationals go to www.usta.com/Adult-Tennis/USTA-League/National-Championships/usta_league_national_championships_results.