Pre-Trek - January 26, 2008
Much like the Master Trek Grand Prix Cup held the preceding weekend, the first Pre-Trek of the year was everything ACE could have hoped for. The New Year got off on the right foot when record turnouts (75 Pre-Trekkers!) boosted the Pre-Trek to all new heights! The “sort and pair by rating, not age” philosophy continues to help Arizona’s youngest scholastic players make their way quickly into the tougher and more “excellence” driven Master Treks.
Unlike the Master Trek however, the Pre-Trek was not stuffed with ties at the top in every section. In fact, the only Co-Champions of the tournament were two people who are probably “Cos” in many areas of life. Michaela and Luana Johnson, sisters of Chevalier Noir, shared 1st place honors in the top, and newly added, 1000-1299 Section.
Michaela Johnson
Chevalier Noir
1st Place - 1000-1299
Luana Johnson
Chevalier Noir
2nd Place - 1000-1299
Seth Harris
Madison Park
3rd Place - 1000-1299
Alek Pensky
Desert Trails
1st Place - 700-999
Kevin Poppell
Chevalier Noir
2nd Place - 700-999
Caleb Peckham
Tempe Prep
3rd Place - 700-999
Dustin Freeman
Heritage
4th Place - 700-999
A.J. Anthony
Chevalier Noir
5th Place - 700-999
Jesus Ibarra
Liberty
6th Place - 700-999
Joshua Perkins
Home School
7th Place - 700-999
Scott Lowery
Chevalier Noir
8th Place - 700-999
Ryan Bither
Tri-City Christian
9th Place - 700-999
Clear winners emerged in both the 700-999 Section and UNR-699 Section. First time Trekker, Alek Pensky, dominated the 700-999 Section with a perfect 5-0 score, while Deer Valley Middle School’s Joel Arcilla, won the UNR-699 Section, going perfect as well.
Joel Arcilla
DVMS
1st Place - Unrated-699
Triston Hudson
Tri-City Christian
3rd Place - Unrated-699
Dillon Shipley
Summit School of Ahwatukee
4th Place - Unrated-699
Jeremiah Todd
Heritage
5th Place - Unrated-699
Dakota Tobias
Heritage
6th Place - Unrated-699
Joseph Cross
DVMS
7th Place - Unrated-699
Caleb Whitaker
Chevalier Noir
8th Place - Unrated-699
Kyle Twitchell
Santan
9th Place - Unrated-699
ACE also introduced Team Awards into the Pre-Trek tournaments for the first time. The team standings saw some tight competition throughout, but edging away with first place honors in each section respectively was Chevalier Noir in the 1000-1299, Chevalier Noir in the 700-999, and Deer Valley Middle School (edging out Heritage Elementary by half a point!) in the UNR-699 Section.
Deer Valley Middle School
1st Place - Unrated-699
Heritage
2nd Place - Unrated-699
Tri-City Christian
3rd Place - Unrated-699
Chevalier Noir
1st Place - 700-999
We received lots of positive feedback from the Trekkers about the Lectures and Game Review, given by FM Daniel Rensch, which took place for an hour and a half during midday. We hope all parents, coaches, and of course players will continue to take advantage of this new feature to our tournaments as Danny and other top coaches from around the valley will make appearances in the Skittles room for Game Review, entertaining chess stories, and detailed chess analysis!
Please continue to stay posted on all the new features to our tournaments and web site over the next couple of months! See you February 23rd!