The Carom Club in Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted the 8th Hunter Classics Amateur Women's Tour event of the year the weekend of Sept 23-24. The Carom Club, owned by WPBA Pro Mona Biddle, just opened a few months ago and the up-scale pool room is amazing - from the beautiful 9-foot tables, to the delicious food, to the well-dressed servers.
The long-standing sponsor of the Hunter Classics Tour, custom cue maker Wes Hunter, was at the tournament all weekend and the ladies were able to express their appreciation in person for all his support for the past 13 years. Wes Hunter donated a $1,900 Hunter Classics Custom Cue for this event, and Nikki Barker was ecstatic when she heard her name called out right before the finals for the beautiful custom cue.
The 28-player field was full with talent and by Saturday night, the field was narrowed down to only 8 players vying for the title and the WPBA Qualifier that was up for grabs. By Sunday afternoon, 7th and 8th places were filled by April Davis and Jillian Valles, while 5th and 6th places were filled by Marissa Hallett and Holly Sholes.
On the winner's side, Tara McCracken defeated Heather Lloyd 7-5 while Terry Petrosino defeated Leslie Anne Rogers by the same score. For the hot seat, Tara kept her winning streak alive by sending Terry to the one-loss side with a score of 7-3. Leslie Anne was derailed by Heather 7-3 to settle for a fourth place finish. The high finish, however, bumped Leslie Anne to within only 15 points behind the leader in the rankings. You can view the rankings here: http://www.hunterclassics.com/pointstandings.cfm. Then Heather matched up with Terry and Heather prevailed 7-4 for a spot in the finals. Terry's 3rd place finish earned her highest finish yet in a Hunter Classics event!
Tara McCracken, who came in second at the previous Hunter Classics Tour stop in August, matched up with sharp shooter Heather Lloyd from Austin , Texas in the finals to a packed house. Tara only missed 4 balls the entire match and won with a lopsided score of 7-3 to capture her first Hunter Classics event and the WPBA Qualifier! Reflecting on the final match, Tara said, "I caught a gear and kept my focus in the finals." Tara, however, dominated all her matches all weekend and played "lights out," said board member Monica Anderson after the event.
When asked about her first Hunter Classics win, Tara paused and then stated, "I feel good about the win because I played really well the whole tournament." Tara continued, "I don't mind coming in last place, as long as I play well, so I'm happy I played well the whole tournament for my first win." Tara brought home $750 and her second WPBA Qualifier of the year for a 2007 WPBA event.
A BIG thank you to Wes Hunter, Mona Biddle, and all the ladies for making this stop a huge success!
Play in the next Hunter Classics Tour event - the Championship Stop at Bogies Billiards in Houston Oct 28-29.
Visit us on the web at http://www.hunterclassics.com.
Complete Payouts, $2,000 added:
1st Tara McCracken, $750 plus WPBA Qualifier
2nd Heather Lloyd, $540
3rd Terry Petrosino, $340
4th Leslie Anne Rogers $250
5th/6th Marissa Hallett and Holly Sholes $150
7th/8th April Davis and Jillian Valles $100
9th-12th Tracy Voelkering, Susan Mello Lucille Donahue, Natalie Starr $50
13th-16th Susan Wilbur, Dawn Garcia, Monica Anderson, Cindy Hunter $30
Second Chance tournament, $100 added:
1st Del Ann Nash $90
2nd Julie Stephenson $60
3rd Pearl Ortiz $40
4th Tracy Voelkering $10
