News & Events 2003-2004

8th Annual NEMA’s Hosted by Blair

From: Ryan M. Pagotto, Tournament Director

The 8th Annual New England Mid-Atlantic Invitational Tennis Tournament (NEMA’s) was held on May 1-2 at Blair Academy. Over the past few years the tournament has gained the reputation of being one of the premier high school boys’ tennis tournaments in the country. Sixteen teams from six different states participated in the event. Match play concluded on Sunday afternoon at 3:15 with a total of 108 matches having been completed. University School (Hunting Valley, OH) was crowned team champion with 27.5 total points. The Hun School (Princeton, NJ) finished in 2nd place with 18.5 points. The Dwight School (New York, NY) finished in 3rd place with 15.5 total points. (See complete final standings at the bottom of the page.)

“The final match of the tournament was one for the ages!” said Blair Academy head coach, Lewis Stival. Fourteen-year-old Reid Carleton (Chestnut Hill, PA) defeated Dwight School (New York, NY) senior Mark Clemente in a three set battle that ended in a tie breaker. Only two hours earlier, Carleton had completed another three set match against McDonogh School (Brooklandville, MD) senior Mark Gober. Both Clemente and Gober will be playing tennis at Division I schools next year: Columbia and Princeton, respectively.

Local teams from Sparta High School, Kittatinny High School and Blair Academy participated in the event. Sparta’s Andrew Wang defeated Lawrenceville’s Stephen Chao in the first round, but lost to McDonogh’s Mark Gober in the quarterfinals. Wang went on to defeat Hun’s Andrew Tervooren in the first round of consolation matches, but lost to Gui Schils from University School in the consolation semi-final. Blair’s Andrew Schmeelk won his first round match against The Hill School’s Elliott Muth, and Blair’s doubles team of Matt Biles and Kevin Quinn won their first round match against Walter O’Brien and Bill Bonin of Hill. Blair and Sparta were tied for 10th place in the tournament with a total of 4 points, while Kittatinny finished in 14th place with a total of 2.5 points.

The NEMA’s are sponsored by Asics, Head Penn Tennis, and Coca Cola. Previous team champions include Newark Academy, Newark, NJ (1997); Benjamin Cardoza, New York, NY (1998); McDonogh School, Baltimore, MD and Milton Academy, Milton, MA (1999); University School Hunting Valley, OH (2000); Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, PA (2001); The Hill School, Pottstown,PA (2002); and Milton Academy, Milton, MA (2003).

The format for the tournament was three flights of singles and one flight of doubles; no repeats. All first round matches and all consolations rounds were eight game pro sets/regular scoring. Main draw quarterfinal action through the finals was 2 out of 3 sets/ regular scoring. Players received 2 points for their team for every main draw win and 1/2 point for every consolation win. The team with the most points after Sunday’s finals was crowned champion. Tournament Director Ryan Pagotto stated “Once again, the NEMA’s were a tremendous success! With several nationally ranked players, the competition was better than ever, and more importantly, all players demonstrated good sportsmanship and conducted themselves with class.”

Click on images to view larger.

NEMA’s 2004 FINAL STANDINGS

1. University School 27.5
2. The Hun School 18.5
3. The Dwight School 15.5
4. McDonogh School 15
5. The Peddie School 11
6. Chestnut Hill Academy 10.5
7. Mercersburg Academy 9.5
8. Lawrenceville School 8.5
9. Montclair Kimberley Academy 7.5
10. Blair Academy 4
10. The Gunnery 4
10. Sparta High School 4
13. St. Paul’s School 3
14. Kittatinny High School 2.5
15. Wyoming Seminary 2
16. The Hill School 1

1st Singles: Reid Carleton (Chestnut Hill) def. Mark Clemente (Dwight) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1)

2nd Singles: Joe Smetona (University) def. Scott Wong (Hun) 6-4, 6-1

3rd Singles: Brett Tobin (University), def. Hakan Gonka (Hun) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1

1st Doubles: Toby AuWerter and John Smetona (University) def. Andrew Maisel, Wilder Sampson (Hun) 6-4, 6-1

Return to 2003-2004 Table of Contents