Landon Memberg, Payne McBride and Rylan Yoder
Meyman and Helfery win 18U/13U girls divisions
Seven down, one to go.
The Junior International Championships’ third season is rounding the far turn and headed for home, somewhat literally. It began in January at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA and will end there after Stop #8 next month. Two of the series’ divisions (13U Boys and Girls) will play their final event and advance players to a championship event on the same weekend. One of the divisions (ProAm) will compete in its final event, with the division’s ‘points winner’ winning a paid entry fee to a future event of his/her choice. The two older divisions (18U Boys and Girls) will hold their last series’ event in Roanoke with the divisions’ top point-earners receiving invitations to a championship event that will be held in conjunction with Pat Fleming’s International Open in Norfolk, VA in November.
The seventh stop on the JIC was held this past weekend (Aug. 18-20) at Big Dogs Billiards in Des Moines, IA, where a total of 50 entrants (some duplication) competed across the five divisions. Payne McBride, who entered the 7th stop at #8 in the ProAm division and #10 in the 18U Boys division gave himself a boost to the top of both ‘piles’ by winning both division events in Iowa. He went undefeated to claim the 18U Boys title and took the opposite track to claim the ProAm title; losing his first match and winning seven in a row.
Jordan Helfery, Kennedy Meyman and Mattison Smith
Kennedy Meyman, in her first 2023 JIC appearance went undefeated in the short, 6-entrant 18U Girls field to claim her first 2023 JIC title. When the update on the standings is completed, Meyman should be in a tie for the 11th spot, with Savannah Easton, who won her only JIC 18U Girls title in Las Vegas two months ago.
Jackson Schultz in his first appearance in the JIC series went undefeated in the short field, 6-entrant 13U Boys division to claim his first title. In the absence of Skylar Hess, Skylynn Elliot and Noelle Tate (1, 2 & 3 in the 13U Girls standings), Jordan Helfery went undefeated through three matches, chalking up her second victory of the season in the 4-entrant, 13U Girls division. The win will launch her over the three girls ahead of her in the 13U Girls standings, headed into the final event of the season. Helfery also finished as runner-up to Meyman in the 18U Girls event and as a result will move into 3rd place in those division standings, just behind Skylar Hess (#1) and Courtney Hairfield (#2) and just ahead of the Tate sisters, Bethany and Noelle.
McBride’s undefeated run through the 18U Boys field moves him into 3rd place in the standings
Damien Smith, Payne McBride and Owen Pinkerton
Payne McBride’s six-match march to the winners’ circle in the 18U Boys division went through one of the competitors ahead of him in the 18U Boys standings, Brent Worth. Following victories over Caleb Schwettman and Tait Everson, McBride faced and defeated Worth (7-3) in a winners’ side quarterfinal that set him (McBride) up against Rylan Yoder in a winners’ side semifinal as Landon Memberg and Jamison Gall squared off in the other one. McBride survived a double-hill challenge by Yoder and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Memberg, who’d defeated Gall 7-4. McBride claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Memberg and when he returned, following a 7-5 victory over Yoder in the semifinals, defeated him again 9-4 in the finals.
Worth finished 4th in the event, which moved him ahead of (absent) Landon Hollingsworth into the top spot in the 18U Boys standings. McBride, in the meantime, moved up seven spots, from 10th to 3rd, ahead of the absent Nathan Nunes and Jas Makhani, and just behind Hollingsworth.
McBride’s trip through the ProAm division was a little trickier. After an opening round bye, McBride was defeated 7-5 by Damien Smith and headed out on his six-match, loss-side trip back to the finals. Smith would go on to face and lose to Owen Pinkerton 7-2 in the battle for the hot seat.
McBride, in the meantime, was working his way through the loss side. Three matches in, he ran into Brent Worth and defeated him 7-5. McBride went on to win three more, including the semifinals against Smith 7-4. About four hours after he’d claimed the 18U Boys title, McBride chalked up his second win of the weekend, downing Pinkerton 9-6 in the finals to claim his second JIC title.
18U Girls and both 13U divisions held short events for their 6, 4 and 4-entrant fields
Kennedy Meyman’s trip to the 18U Girls winners’ circle put her up against two opponents in three matches. She defeated Leigha Belieu in her first match (a winners’ side semifinal) 7-2 and then defeated Jordan Helfery twice; 7-5 to claim the hot seat and then, once Helfery returned from her 7-2 semifinal victory over Mattison Smith in the semifinals, again, in the finals 9-3.
The two 13U divisions competed in a round robin format. Jackson Schultz’ win in the 13U Boys division saw him down two opponents, both of them, double hill. He opened with a double-hill win over Zander Block and while Block and Dalton Nelson played out a battle for third place (won by Block 7-3), Schultz and Colston Harrelston (who’d sent Nelson to that semifinal match) played a double-hill final. Schultz won it to claim the title.
Jordan Helfrey claimed her 13U Girls title in the same way. She defeated Jossalyn Nelson 7-2 in the opening round and while she and Leigha Belieu played in their second match (the final), Nelson and Aalinah Fulgern played a semifinal match. Helfrey claimed the title with a 9-6 win over Belieu, as Fulgern took third place with a shut out over Nelson.
The final regular-season stop on the 2023 JIC series will be held on the weekend of Sept. 15-17 at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA.
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