Now that the 50th annual Outdoor Nationals is in the rear-view mirror, here’s an update on the standings for the 2024 Outdoor Cups, brought to you by LPL Financial (for the Women) and KWM Gutterman Inc. for the Men.
For those not familiar, the Outdoor Cup series calculates points earned by players in pro divisions at all three Outdoor “Majors” (Beach Bash, Outdoor Nationals, and 3WallBall in Vegas) and gives awards to the top finishers.
Here’s where we stand after the second major of the 2024 season.
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Men’s Cup Series:
Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YkLkhbbgY3pNjW5YRb12fXHAI_LnVNFx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102402795225850924380&rtpof=true&sd=true
1. With a big tournament in Huntington Beach, @Rocky Carson has jumped from #6 after Beach Bash to be in 1st place by a fair margin of the Outdoor cup standings after Outdoor Nationals. He won the pro doubles and made the final of the CPRT. Had he entered singles or mixed, he might be even further ahead.
2. King Kane Waselenchuk vaults up to #2 in the standings after winning Men’s Pro and CPRT doubles in California.
3. Chris McDonald, who did not play Beach Bash despite it being drive-able from his home in Gainesville, jumps to 3rd place in the standings with a stupendous showing in California last weekend. He won CPRT with Kane, won Mixed with @Michelle Key, won a third division with his brother, and made the quarters before an injury to his partner forced his team out of pro doubles. He’s committed already to Vegas and his partnership with Kane looks quite fruitful; it will be interesting to see who Kane chooses to play Pro Doubles with at 3WB.
4. The two leaders post Beach Bash (Robert Sostre and @Benny Goldenberg) remain tied for 4th in the standings. Both are Vegas regulars and could push for the top 3 with good showings, but both are also inarguably one-wall guys which will make things tough.
Notables in the 6-10 range: DJ Mendoza , the Beach Bash winner, had a quiet HB events but remains in 6th place. @Eduardo Portillo , who missed the Beach Bash, took Outdoor Nationals singles and made the semis in both Men’s and Mixed doubles and sits in 7th place. Thomas Gerhardt and Walter Ramos sit 8th and 10th respectively with solid showings across the board at both majors so far. @Josh Tucker lost in the final of Pro Doubles and retains 9th place on the rankings.
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Women’s Cup Series:
Full Standings xls: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gpMyYigsDvwwP5Hk-X3BEiyVZaKjL4X1RhB5UjByXv4/edit?usp=sharing
1. Michelle Key got a win and a final in California and took over #1 in the rankings after doing the same in Beach Bash earlier this year. She has a pretty sizeable lead and probably cannot be caught for the 2024 title unless she misses 3WB.
2. @Carla muñoz had about as good of an event as one could hope for in California, winning two pro titles and making the final of the third. This is enough to vault her into 2nd place despite missing the Beach Bash event altogether.
2. Arizona’s @Katie Neils sits tied for 2nd with Munoz on the strength of a finals appearance in California and the Beach Bash pro title, both earned with fellow Arizona resident Key. She’ll have her work cut out for her to break into the top 2 in Vegas.
4. @Kelani Lawrence , who was in the lead post Beach Bash, has slipped to 4th after having to miss Outdoor Nationals this year.
5. Brenda Laime ‘s strong Outdoor Nats event (a win, a final, and the Mixed semis) was enough to push her to 5th place. She only trails 2nd place by 90 points though, which can be attained with a solid showing in Vegas.
Notables in the 6-10 range: Jessica Parrilla and @Veronica Sotomayor were both in the top 5 post BB but now sit 6th and 7th respectively. Leoni is a Vegas favorite but Vero hasn’t (to my knowledge) ever played Vegas, so we’ll see what happens. Vero and @Sudsy Monchik recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest, which might make a Vegas trip more attainable though. 16-yr old @Victoria Rodriguez got a couple of semis in HB and now sits 8th. Two Floridians who were top10 post Beach Bash (@Delia Silva and @Chanis Leon hold on to their top 10 spots for now.
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We’ll revisit the Outdoor Cup after the year’s last major, that being 3Wall Ball to be held in late September in Vegas.
@World Outdoor Racquetball
@USA Racquetball