Monday, June 7, 2010

Individual Competition Continues Tomorrow with 2 Athletes Advancing Out of Pool Play

Day two of individual competition gained a few wins and some heartbreaking losses for Team USA athletes. Jen Jay lost two close matches, Japan 2 - 4 and Croatia 2-3 to be bumped out of her pool. Brigid Mason, Sam Williams, Lee Lobmeyer and Andy Olivarez played some serious boccia but weren't able to advance out of their respective pools.
On the win end, Austin Hanson was victorious winning 8-1 against Hong Kong and 10 - 0 vs. Columbia. Austin advanced out of his pool and goes into the finals tomorrow.
TJ Hawker won his first match of the day against Jose Vasquerizo of Spain 4 - 0. Going into game two, Hawker was up until the last end when his competitor, Lukas Balazi of Slovak, tied the score throwing the game into a tie break. TJ lost the tie break however due to point differential, has advanced out of his pool.
Hawker and Hanson are in the race for the medals...Go Team USA!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Team looks good starting individual play

Today's competition began with BC2 athlete Brigid Mason facing off against Korean athlete Soyeong Jeong who is ranked 10th in the world. Brigid was up 1 - 0 after the first end but lost her match 1 - 15 after Ms. Jeong played long. Her second match of the day was a 1 - 7 defeat to Peter Hudecek of Slovak Republic. Brigid was able to put the ball on the jack in two ends however Peter was able to bust it up to gain the advantage.

The match of the day was 9th world ranked USA athlete Austin Hanson vs. 36th World Ranked USA athlete Sam Williams. Williams battled hard and played strategically ultimately losing to Hanson 11 - 0. Both Williams and Hanson take on Colombia and Hong Kong over the next two days.

New athlete Lee Lobmeyer played an excellent match against 7th ranked Luis Ferreira da Silva of Portugal and although she did not win the match, she held her opponent to 5 points losing 1 - 6.

All USA BC3 athletes are poised to advance out of their pool.

TJ Hawker, Jennifer Jay and Andy Olivarez will begin their individual matches tomorrow after today's day of rest.
Go USA!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Team USA advances

Team USA pairs advanced out of pool and gave a great effort to come back from a 3 point deficit to loose to Japan 5-3. Today pairs players were able to catch up on some rest and watch Korea handily defeat Portugal in the pairs gold/silver match. With a pool of over 60 athletes in the BC3 division Hanson, Williams and Lobmeyer all ended up in the same pool during the seeding-what are the odds!! Due to a ruling that only 2 from the same country can be in the same pool, Lobmeyer was moved to a different pool of play. USA team members will now be competitors on court as Austin Hanson will go up against Sam Williams in what will prove to a great match!! Team USA will be cheering for..dare we say it both athletes! We look forward to begin play in individual rounds tomorrow. Look for updates as the day goes on.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Update on the team!

USA Pairs players handed a loss by Belguim with final score of 1 - 6. Hanson And Lobmeyer battled the first 3 ends to try to make up the defecit of Belguims 6 points but could not pull it out. Lobmeyer was replaced by Williams in the fourth end and USA Pairs were able to come back with 1 point to take away the shut out from Belguim. With the loss came some tense moments until it was confirmed through point differential that the USA Pairs would advance out of pool play. They will be taking the court shortly to face Team Japan. More to report at the conclusion.

TEAM USA (Jennifer Jay, Andre Olivarez, Brigid Mason and TJ Hawker) lost their 3rd match to Norway this afternoon losing what was the closest game yet for our US Team. USA scored the 1st point in end one. Norway came back and scored 2 points in end 2 and 1 point in end 3 to move ahead 3-1. In end 4, TJ Hawker pulled out 2 next to the jack to tie the score 3-3 and the game was on. Unfortunately Norway´s skill came through and they scored in the last 2 ends to win the match 7 - 3. TEAM USA will not advance to finals and the athletes will begin to focus on individual competition which begins Saturday.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Unbelievable day for pairs

Austin Hanson lead the US team to a 4-2 win over Slovakia and a 6-4 incredible win over team Canada. USA is 2-0 for the day and looking forward to winning against Belgium tomorrow to advance out of pool play. Both Sam William and Lee Lobmeyer contributed excellent shots to provide team USA with two fantastic wins!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Parade of Athletes a Colorful Display

The high temperatures and humidity did little to dampen the excitement felt at the sports complex this evening as Team USA prepared to march in the opening ceremonies. Decked out in patriotic red and white polo's with navy slacks, the team enthusiastically waved American flags as they entered the venue.
Joining in the opening ceremonies were the international group of referees including America's own Mary Knudsen (Texas) and Harold Johnson (New York).
Tomorrow begins the competition and Team USA is ready for action. Pairs players Hanson, Williams and Lobmeyer, will face Slovakia at 11:30am and Canada at 2:40pm. Team players Hawker, Olivarez, Jay and Mason will take on Ireland at 10am and Australia at 4:15pm. Wish us well and stay tuned for the report at the end of the day.
We just completed a great morning of practice! Looking forward to tonight's parade of nations and mentally preparing this afternoon for tomorrows competition. Go USA!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Team USA is gearing up for the World Championships

Team USA has landed in Lisbon and is preparing hard for competition to begin this Wednesday!! We had an uneventful travel except for JJ's flight which was struck by lightning and had to be grounded.We had an excellent practice today and await another practice schedule on Tuesday as well as opening ceremonies. We are anxious for competition to begin Wednesday. To all our families, friends, and supporters we look forward to a great week of competition. Go USA!!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

2010 CPISRA World Championships | Lisbon, Portugal

Announcing the 20010 Boccia TEAM USA who will be competing at the 2010 CPISRA Boccia World Championships (May 30 - June 5) in Lisbon, Portugal.

Lee Lobmeyer - Topeka, Kansas



Austin Hanson - Topeka, Kansas



Timothy Hawker - Toledo, Ohio



Jennifer Jay - Pinnellas Park, Florida



Brigid Mason



Andy Olivarez




Sam Williams - Elmhurst, Illinois






Monday, May 17, 2010

USA is getting ready for the World Championships

Keep tuned in!! over the next several days Team USA will begin giving you all the vital information you will need to stay tuned to the World Championships in Lisbon Portugal!