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….Collegiate Handball in New Orleans

New Orleans, LA, WPH Press, 1/16/23

The WPH proudly hosted twenty-three collegiate players at the 2023 Race 4 Eight New Orleans Mardi Gras event, providing collegiate players from the University of Texas, Missouri State University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Lake Forest College, and Texas A&M University to be inspired by the best players in the world at one of the sport’s premiere events. Several of the college players played in the pro brackets, while the majority of the collegiate players entered the Men’s and Women’s A and B singles and doubles.

“It was great to have a couple of players from TAMU make the trip to NOLA, which will help them immensely in their preparation for the collegiate nationals next month,” stated R48 New Orleans champion and TAMU handball coach Martin Mulkerrins. “They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and Trevor Austin won the B/C singles, which was a super achievement for him considering he only started playing in September. But it was also fantastic to see other collegiate players from UT, Missouri State, Lake Forest and Mankato at the event and performing very well!”

“The mission of the WPH is to inspire the current players and promote the game to new players,” stated the WPH’s David Fink. “We saw so many new faces and hopefully lifelong players in New Orleans. More than 80% of the draw in New Orleans were under the age of 31, with more than half of the field being active college students. We are thrilled these college players made the trip to New Orleans, with several driving for ten hours and others flying thousands of miles. I remember playing in tournaments when I was younger and being the youngest player in the tournament by twenty years. I love seeing the younger generation at our events!”

Thank you to all of the collegiate players from Texas, Missouri, Illinois, and Minnesota for making the tremendous effort to travel and be a part of the Race 4 Eight Mardi Gras event.

2023 New Orleans Mardi Gras Collegiate Player Highlights

Clodagh Munroe: 2^nd in the WR48 singles

Mark Doyle: 7^th in the R48 singles

John A. Bike: 17^th place in the R48 singles

Trey Safford: Men’s A singles champion

Trevor Austin: Men’s B singles champion

Jordan Sammis: Women’s B champion

Trey Safford/Christian Madsen: Men’s Open Doubles Champions

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David Fink

WPH Senior Writer