R E P O R T D. JEAN VERGARA
D. JEAN VERGARA
P O L O
Thomas winners: Cheryl Arnold, Nadina Delirippa, Juan Vidal, Ann Oniskey, Johanna Pederson, Anders Hedberg and Sue Spencer.
wood, 3-0, thanks to goals by Iftikhar and Arnold. Arby Dobb faced Tinicum (Richard Weidel, Abdullah Chaudhry, Tim Cheromcka, Talha Chaudhry) in the second round. Abdullah Chaudhry and Cheromcka split the posts for Tinicum while Arby Dobb was held to one from Iftikhar, for the 2-1, win. Tinicum kept up the pressure in the third round. Goals by David Halliday in the first and second chukkers were matched by Weidel, Abdullah Chaudhry and Talha Chaudhry, giving Tinicum the win. Play continued the following week with the Bill Thomas Memorial. The popularity of founding member Billy Thomas, who passed away last year, was reflected in the number of old friends and supporters on hand and even a family member who vied to participate in the match. Thomas gave his heart, soul and a lot of equipment to the club and beloved fellow players in the sport he played for the pure fun of it. Splitting positions, 13 members of the club appeared in the game, including Billy’s granddaughter Nadina Delirippa, a former intercollegiate player from University of Connecticut. The evenly matched teams—Arby Dobb (Sue Spencer, Anders Hedberg, Juan Vidal, Cheryl Arnold, Delirippa, Ann Oniskey, Johanna Pederson) and Tinicum (Mark Mulligan, Daniel Arnold, Carol Hails,
48 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
Tinicum’s Mark Mulligan, Elini Lampers, David Halliday, Owen Halliday, Mohamed Hassan and Meg Mullen won the Maroons Cup.
Val Washington, Rhea Lowenthal, George Daniello) played an exciting game where the winner wasn’t determined until Arby Dobb put the goahead goal through the posts in the last few seconds. Thomas’ widow Ellen Thomas attended the event, along with Greg and Diane Krug, their sons and Mike Brady, sponsors of the Arby Dobb team. Friends of Thomas since the club’s beginning, the group set up their famous tailgate spread and provided trophies for the game. Thomas was known as “The Hammer” for his slugging offside shot so players were awarded hammers embossed with “Billy the Hammer.” On June 26, the club celebrated the Maroons Cup, inspired by the 1920s pro football team from Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It was sponsored by David Russek, a native of Pottsville, as a way to bring attention to the fascinating history of the city to support its rehabilitation. Russek watched the game from the sidelines rather than the back of a horse after cracking five ribs, the result of falling off one of his horses when it was spooked by a parade of bagpipers in a game weeks earlier. Maroons (Richard Weidel, Sarah Weidel, Barclay Knapp, Tim Cheromcka, Jose Cervantes, Carol Hails) took on Tinicum (Mohamed Hassan, Meg Mullen, David Halliday, Owen Halliday,
Elini Lampers, Mark Mulligan). Tinicum got the 9-2 edge, taking home the prize footballs. Meg Mullen was named MVP, earning herself a Maroons football jersey. In July, Weidel (Val Washington, Gabriel Maldonado, Rich Weidel, Joaquin Arguello) fell to Hawkwood (Barclay Knapp, Kathleen Fowser, Leandro Berrios, Francisco Llosa), 9-6, in the Max Berger Cup final. Maldonado struck first but he was answered by Llosa. Arguello hammered in two in a row and a Penalty 1 gave Weidel an early 4-1 lead. Llosa nailed a Penalty 3 and Berrios followed with a goal to bring Hawkwood within one, 43, before Maldonado scored, ending the half 5-3 in favor of Weidel. Hawkwood rallied in the third with Llosa adding four goals, including two open-goal penalties, while Weidel was shut down, giving Hawkwood a 7-5 lead going into the last seven minutes. Maldonado cut the difference to one early in the fourth, but Berrios turned up the heat, scoring two in a row to secure the Hawkwood victory, 9-6. Gabriel Maldonado was MVP, while Barclay Knapp’s Shorty, played by Leandro Berrios, was Best Playing Pony. To get to the final, Hawkwood topped Windmill, 8-6, and Weidel crushed Azra, 10-2. In the consolation match, Windmill (Rhea Lowenthal, Nate Berube, Tim
