To Life!
SPORTS
Match
Detroit teens join with other
Maccabi athletes for top-notch time.
Detroit dancers, from left, front: Shayna Mandell, Laura Flusty. Back:
Samantha Scharg, coach Lois Langberg, Taylor Chaness, Hayley Mandell.
Detroit bowlers Kevin Finegood, Sarah Nagel, Sam Genetti, Keith Mandell
Steve Stein
Special to The Jewish News
0
ne of the biggest attractions of
competing in the JCC Maccabi
Games is the opportunity to
meet other Jewish athletes ages 13-16
from around the country and the world.
Table tennis players and bowlers from
the Metropolitan Detroit Maccabi Club
not only met other athletes, but teamed up
with them and won medals at the games
held Aug. 6-11 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Detroit table tennis coach Don Rudick
said site director Lei Winkler selected
doubles partners in a drawing. "Len
didn't know the quality of the players well
enough to pick balanced teams, so he
went to a blind draw:' Rudick said.
Detroit athletes won silver and bronze
medals in doubles in the 13-14 age divi-
sion. Adam Awerbach teamed with
Collin Ray of Dallas to capture the silver
and Scott Haber combined with Jake
Milgrom of Australia to take the bronze.
Jordan Birnholz of Detroit won a
medal on his own. He won all five of his
matches in the medal round and earned
the singles gold in the 15-16 division.
Josh Upfal, who competed in the 13-14
division, was the fourth member of the
Detroit table tennis contingent.
The 41 Maccabi table tennis
players (37 boys and four girls)
Adam Awerbucfr
met 1949 U.S. women's table tennis
won a silver
champion Thelma Thall, who
medal in table
lives in the Phoenix area. Thall, 84,
aisles
still coaches and plays table ten-
with Jake
ths. She practiced with Maccabi
Milgrom of
competitors and attended most of
Australia.
the matches.
Detroit's four bowlers came
home with 10 medals following
In the 13-14 boys division, Sam
four days of strikes, spares and splits at
Genetti won a.gold for scratch team
Brunswick Via Linda Lanes in Scottsdale.
game, a silver for scratch team series and
"That's quite an accomplishment. There
a bronze for scratch individual series.
were 80 bowlers there and the competi-
Also, Kevin Finegood won a silver for
tion was very tough:' said Detroit bowling
scratch individual series.
coach Al Nagel.
Doubles squads were put together based
Nagel's daughter, Sarah Nagel, won
on opening-day results. High scorers were
golds for scratch singles series and scratch
grouped with low scorers. Teams were
doubles series and a silver for scratch
selected by drawings.
individual series in the 15-16 girls divi-
sion. This was Sarah's fourth and final
Basketball Silver
year of Maccabi competition. She carried
Detroit's 14-under boys basketball team
the Detroit banner at the Phoenix Games'
overcame the loss of one of its key players
opening ceremonies at the U.S. Airways
on the eve of the Phoenix games to win
Center.
a silver medal. Coach Steve Weiss said
Keith Mandell won a gold for handi-
Eric Fishman couldn't play because of
cap doubles series and silvers for handi-
illness, but Fishman's teammates came
cap doubles game and scratch doubles
through in his absence.
game in the 15-16 boys division.
Jake Olds
was the team's
leading scorer.
Adam Goldman
was deadly from
three-point range,
Danny Weiss and
Basil Williams
were strong under
the boards and
Josh Levine was
tough on defense.
Drake Deitch, Max Nathan and Alex
Scharg also contributed to Detroit's
medal-winning effort.
Dance Fever
Each of Detroit's five dancers won med-
als-at the Vancouver Games, held Aug.
13-18. Taylor Chaness, Laura Flusty,
Hayley Mandell, Shayna Mandell
and Samantha Scharg won a gold in
hip hop group and a silver in jazz group.
Chaness also won a gold in tap solo and
Shayna Mandell earned a gold in dance
solo. Laura and Lois Langberg coached
the dancers. ❑
More Maccabi results will appear next week.
Send sports news to
sports@thejewishnews.com.
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August 31 • 2006
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