VITAL STATISTICS
Date: Saturday, July 12, 2003
Location: Wilcox Park, Lynnwood, WA
Winners: Jeff Gepner & Brian S. Johnston III
Participating Clubs: Lakewood Croquet Club and University of Washington Honors Croquet League
Number of Years Gepner and Johnston Feuded Prior to Joining Forces as a Doubles Team: 5
After last year’s Coleman Challenge was cancelled in controversial fashion by Lakewood Croquet Club President Brian S. Johnston III, the LCC Board of Directors was insistent on this year’s event coming off without a hitch. As a result, this year’s edition, the 52nd Annual Gary Coleman Memorial Team Challenge, returned to the site of the 2001 event, Wilcox Park in Lynnwood, Washington.
The 2003 Coleman Challenge also marked the return of the University of Washington’s Honors Croquet League to LCC competition. Nick Addington and company, who initially took part in the 2001 Champions Cup, continued the LCC’s cross-organization promotions of recent years.
The match itself proved to be a classic. New champions were guaranteed prior to the start time, as LCC President Brian S. Johnston III dissed his former partner and co-champion Tom Carmony to instead team with 3-time Champions Cup winner Jeff Gepner. Johnston, who was a former 3-time Doubles Champion, was concise in his justification for teaming with Gepner, his longtime rival: “I want to win.”
Johnston and Gepner came out of the chute quickly, storming out to an early lead over the rest of the pack. No one among the remaining three teams in the field were able to mount much of a challenge, as Gepner and Johnston moved toward the turning stake at a record pace. Observers were quick to suggest that the 2003 edition of the Coleman Challenge may have wrapped up in record time.
Fortuntely for the rest of the pack (many of whom had driven more than 90 minutes to reach the event through heavy traffic), Gepner’s and Johnston’s record run was stalled on the back half of the course, courtesy of the course’s signature wicket, designed by Gepner himself. The wicket, which actually consisted of three wickets, setup side by side, between two trees, atop a hill. Prior to the kickoff of the match, experts agreed that the innovative wicket had the potential to go down as a classic. That was indeed the case, as it proved a turning point in the match.
While Gepner and Johnston struggled with the hillside wicket, the newly formed team of Tom Carmony and current LCC Champion Andy Cooper took advantage and jumped back into contention, actually passing the leaders in what turned out to be a chess match heading toward the final stake. Things looked grim for Johnston and Gepner, as Carmony exacted a measure of revenge for Johnston’s pre-match double cross by roqueting his rivals’ ball more than 30 feet off track and away from the final wickets. Cooper and Carmony were setup for the win on their following turn, but Gepner exacted a stunning 25 foot shot to catch Cooper’s and Carmony’s ball with a glancing blow. That croquet gave Gepner the opportunity to roquet their opponents out of contention and stake out for the big win.
OTHER NOTABLES
The 52nd Annual Gary Coleman Memorial Team Challenge will go down in history as one of the few LCC events without any documenting photos, as the LCC’s official photographer managed to forget the Compact Flash card for this digital camera (Jackass!)… The bear that was supposed to wrestle LCC superstar Jeff Gepner no-showed the event, sparing Gepner… Gepner, Andy Cooper, and LCC President Brian S. Johnston III held a pre-event clinic for local children in attendance; the clinic came to an abrupt end as a grumpy Johnston barked “don’t touch our shit…. SCRAM!”
2003 GARY COLEMAN MEMORIAL TEAM CHALLENGE
1 – Jeff Gepner & Brian S. Johnston III
2 – Andy Cooper & Tom Carmony
3 – Nick Addington & Susan Taylor
4 – Cait Rippey & David Sunderland
