The annual APA 9 Ball Southwest Challenge was conducted October 16-19 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and San Diego completed the sweep of 1st place finishes at Southwest Challenge Tournaments for 2014. Both of the big traveling trophies are in San Diego until at least March. If you recall, all four of the final remaining teams in March were San Diego teams, and while we only had 2 teams in the final 16 in 9 Ball, they ended up finishing in 1st and 2nd place. The 2014 APA 9 Ball Southwest Challenge Champions are: Marakai Fellows, Jamie Vermillion and Aaron Moreno. They fought their way through a record tournament of 126 teams from all over the Southwest to claim the 3rd San Diego 9 Ball Championship in the Southwest Challenge since we started the tournament in 2003. The previous champions were Jesse Pamintuan, Angela Takanashi and Jon Smith in 2006 and Scott Thurber, Frank Vachlin and Karina Mena in 2007. Marakai, Jamie and Aaron won the first place prize of $2400 for their outstanding efforts. Finishing in 2nd place were Frankie Ruiz, Vito Strimaitis and Pete Gonzalez from Escondido. Frankie, Vito and Pete won $1500 for their finish. In all, 126 teams (27 San Diego teams) participated and the total purse for the event was $18,180.00. Several other San Diego teams finished in the money. San Diego teams that finished in the money are listed below. Click here to see results for all San Diego teams.
1st Place: San Diego #9 - Marakai Fellows, Aaron Moreno and Jamie Vermillion - $2,400
2nd Place: San Diego #25 - Vito Strimaitis, Pete Gonzalez and Frankie Ruiz - $1,500
9th-16th Place: San Diego #10 - William Wood, Sheri Berardino and Joseph Berardino; San Diego #27 - Shaun Luc, Evangeline Logterman and Liana Satia Negoro - $420
17th- 32nd Place: San Diego #1 - Pamela Cabaniss, Bobbi Adams and Greg Cabaniss; San Diego #11 - Lance Sayre, David Ferris and Ken Sayre; San Diego #17 - Rose Morrison, David Pate and Michael Wilder - $270
33rd- 48th Place: San Diego #2 - Teresa Mitchell, Kim Nguyen and Ducky Holt; San Diego #22 - Dan Paterson, Jim Finigan and Courtney Wilson - $150
Total prize money won by San Diego teams: $5,850