Team Pool Champions Crowned at U of Michigan

Team Pool Champions Crowned at U of MichiganWhat’s Happenin’ on the Youth and Collegiate Pool SceneThe University of Michigan hosted the 2nd Annual Intercollegiate Team Pool Championships on the weekend of December 2-4, 2005. The inaugural event, held just 9 months earlier in March of 2005 after a weather postponement in November 2004, was a modest success, fielding six 4-person teams from Michigan, Ohio, and Western Ontario. But in less than a year, this unique program really gained steam, with 14 teams representing six states and two countries. Starving college students traveled from as far away as Blacksburg, Virginia—nearly 10 hours from Ann Arbor--for this 3-day, 3-event competition, the only one of its kind. Schools were asked to choose a team name; some chose logical—if slightly predictable—names like “Wolverines” and “Hoosiers.” Others took their creativity to a new level with team names like the U of Illinois first-string team, featuring three Asian students and a blue-eyed blond from the Farm Belt. Their clever moniker: “Three Fortune Cookies & A Cracker.” The tourney kicked off with a modified straight pool competition on Friday night. Each individual had 10 turns at the table with no opponent—the goal being to simply pocket as many balls as possible in 10 innings (The Derby City Open adopted a similar format just a month later!). The totals of all four team members’ runs were tallied, and the team with the highest aggregate score was the winner of the straight pool division, earning a trophy and 150 points toward overall team standings.
On Saturday, they played 4-person team 8-ball using the Billiard Congress of America format. The last team standing after a double-elimination playoff was crowned the 8-ball victor, again receiving a trophy and 150 points toward overall team standings.Finally, on Sunday, they played 9-ball, but as individuals. Team points were awarded to any player who finished in the final 8. Additionally, the 9-ball tournament was a qualifier for the ACUI Intercollegiate Championships (formerly “Nationals”) next summer.Although their eyes were on the prize, seeking to earn the most points and take home the Lucite trophies and title of “Intercollegiate Team Champions,” participants had multiple opportunities for medals and recognition, with a Sportsmanship category, “Ball Buster” award, and MVP. Individual players could also earn bonus points toward team standings by running a rack, pocketing the 8-ball or 9-ball on the break, and by having the high run in straight pool.Angelo Inness from Mansfield University (Pennsylvania) and Mike Shrum from the University of Akron were the two top nominees in the Ball Buster competition. In a break contest “break-off,” Mike emerged victorious, pocketing 15 balls in ten breaks on a double-shimmed table.The overwhelming winner of the Sportsmanship Award was Raemondo Chay from the University of Illinois, as voted by his fellow players. Jason Fleming, who tallied the high run in straight pool, 75 bonus points in 8-ball, 30 bonus points in 9-ball, and had an overall point scoring average of 9.2 in 8-ball (10 is perfect), was awarded the tournament MVP medal by the Director. Dan McGwire of the University of Akron received an honorable mention in the MVP category.Dan McGwire and Olivia Cheng of the University of Illinois secured their spots at the ACUI Championships at the University of Arizona in July by besting the field in 9-ball. When all was said and done on Sunday night, The University of Akron “Gold” team repeated its 2004 victory with 450 team points, having finished in 1st place in the 9-ball and 2nd place in both 8-ball and Straight Pool. Their name will be repeated on the stationary trophy on display at U of M.Not far behind, with 370 points, were the Mustangs from the University of Western Ontario. They captured the Straight Pool title and finished 3rd in 8-ball, but cinched 2nd place by racking up 110 bonus points. 105 of these points were earned single-handedly by eventual MVP Jason Fleming.Final Team Standings1st U of Akron Gold (450 points)2nd Western Ontario Mustangs (370)3rd Va. Tech Hokies (190)4th 3 Fortune Cookies & A Cracker (180)5th EMU Eagles (150)6th Mansfield Mounties (70)7th Indiana Hoosiers (50)8th U of Akron Blue (35)9th U of Illinois Dunder Mifflin (15)10th (tie) Va. Tech On Cue On Point (5) Va. Tech SSC (5)12th (tie) Michigan Wolverines (0) UWO/Fanshawe Falcons (0) Va. Tech BZ Elite (0)This tournament will take place again at U of M in the end of 2006. The exact date is not set yet but will be announced via the website in the fall. To see over 100 pictures of the event, visit: www.umich.edu/~billiard/invitational.htmlVisit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news from the sport of billiards and pool.

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