2002 Wachovia Palmetto Championships

The Wachovia Palmetto Championships, the state's junior qualifying tournament was played for the 46th year in Belton May 31 - June 7, 2002. 503 junior players from throughout South Carolina entered the tournament which was played on 45 courts in Belton and Anderson. Championships were determined in singles and doubles for boys and girls in five age divisions. The tournament headquarters were at the Belton Tennis Center.

AGE DIVISION	NAME	HOME TOWN
Boy's 10's	Peter Prichard	Charleston
Boy's 12's	Thomas Ligon	Georgetown
Boy's 14's	William Guzick	Greer
Boy's 16's	Andrew Stubbs	Hilton Head
Boy's 18's	Ryan Young	Charleston
Girl's 10's	Shelby Rogers	Mt. Pleasant
Girl's 12's	Sarah Guzick	Greer
Girl's 14's	Amanda Granson	Hilton Head
Girl's 16's	Caroline Ferrell	Blythewood
Girl's 18's	Helene Stephens	Hilton Head

AGE DIVISION	NAME
Boy's 10's	Brian Gotshalk (Charleston) & Elliot Sperr (Charleston)
Boy's 12's	Derek Dickey (Lexington) & Thomas Ligon (Georgetown)
Boy's 14's	Caleb Barnes (Irmo) & Ben Taylor (Lexington)
Boy's 16's	Rob Haynie (Greenwood) & Thomas Stoddard (Greenwood)
Boy's 18's	Andrew Stubbs (Hilton Head) & Ryan Young (Charleston)
Girl's 10's	Lee Ferrell (Blythewood) & Alexix Prickett (Columbia)
Girl's 12's	Mallory Cecil (Spartanburg) & Heather Isbell (Clinton)
Girl's 14's	Margaret Nicholson (Myrtle Beach) & Abbey Walker (Lancaster)
Girl's 16's	Caroline Ferrell (Blythewood) & Austin Smith (Hilton Head)
Girl's 18's	Alida Barnwell (Charleston) & Kalee Claussen (Mt. Pleasant)

Three sportsmanship awards were presented. Amanda Malatek of Blythewood won the Tiger Hustle Award and Alex Hand of Anderson won the Matthew Strange Memorial Sportsmanship Award. Both players participated in the 12-and-under divisions. The Malloy Evans Memorial Sportsmanship Award was presented to Moutray McLaren of Greenville, a participant in the Boy's 18's.

Ryan Young won title in both singles and doubles in the Boy's 18's, giving him 13 career Palmetto titles, a new boys' record. He ties the overall tournament record of 13, held by Janice Durden of Charleston. Seven of his titles have been in doubles, a tournament record for boys. His six singles championships tie him for third on the all-time tournament list. Will Guzick and Helene Stephens each won their second straight Palmetto singles title. Andrew Stubbs won his third straight, and Young his fourth straight.

Several other awards and honors were presented during the week. Steve Zalinski, was named the 2002 Honorary Tournament Chairman. Zalinski and Dunlop have been a strong supporter and sponsor of the tournament for the past ten years. Erin Donovan of Lexington was named the 2002 recipient of the Dunlop Scholarship. The portraits of the two newest inductees in the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame, Keith Richardson of Rock Hill and Rex Maynard of Belton, were unveiled at the Palmetto Fling on June 5.

Tournament Director Rex Maynard had these comments: "We were very pleased with the number of players who entered this year's Palmetto. Except for one injury and one school conflict, we had all of the state's top junior players. Everyone...the staff, volunteers, officials, players and parents.....worked together to make it a great event. We survived a few hot days, then the rain on Thursday afternoon didn't delay us; we finished on schedule around 4:00 Friday afternoon. Ryan Young's two championships plus the 11 he already had are quite an accomplishment. He broke a record which was 25 years old, and he will be eligible to play next year. We're proud of all our junior players in South Carolina, and know they will represent us well at the Southern Closed Championships next week."