Junior Ricardo Palma is one win away from joining classmate Leo Canales and senior Anthony Collado in the Men's Open Singles division after his opening round victory at the United States Handball Association National Collegiate Championships on Wednesday.
Seeded 17th at the event, Palma posted a 21-11, 21-6 victory Wednesday night and will need a win over the #16 seed on Thursday in the Open/A1 division to qualify for one of 16 spots in the Open. Collado was seeded third overall and prevailed 21-15, 21-19 to earn his place in the Open. Canales, the #7 seed, had to come from behind to advance, taking his match 12-21, 21-12, 11-6.
Lake Forest's next four highest-seeded players were also victorious on Wednesday. Freshman Chandler Straw and juniors Max Roberts and Carter Kounovsky were seeded between 33 and 48 and will play again on Thursday with a spot in the A1 division on the line. Junior Jon Vargas also won on Wednesday and another victory on Thursday would put him in the A2 division.
Thursday's matches also include Xavier Higa trying to reach the B1 bracket, sophomore David Carrillo and junior Steve Lee trying to play their way into the C1 division, and freshman Brandon Sanchez and sophomore Carter Ostrander competing for a spot in C2. Lee was the only one of the five to win on Wednesday, taking his opening round match 21-20, 11-21, 11-3.
The only Forester woman to compete on Wednesday was freshman Marketa Riley, who was defeated in her USHA National Championships debut and will play for a spot in the B2 bracket on Thursday.
The rest of the Lake Forest women's players will play their opening round matches and most of the Forester doubles teams will also be in action on Thursday.
National Collegiate Championships on USHA Website
Thursday's Recap | Friday's Recap | Saturday's Recap | Sunday's Recap
