ACUI History at NM Tech

Before the actual History a little blurb about this year's qualifying tournament at New Mexico Tech.

Blurb on this year's qualifier

The Billy Aardd's Club and the Game Room will sponsor a qualifying tournament for students wishing to participate in the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), region 13 (, recreational tournament 9-ball competition.   The qualifying tournament will be held the weekend of November 8 (and if need be November 15 too) in the Fidel game room.   The regional tournament will be held at Utah State University, February 19-21 (Thu-Sat), 2009.   Auxiliary Services will pick up entry fees and lodging for the regional tournament.

This tournament is restricted to students in good standing, able to go to the regional.   The ENTRY DEADLINE is Thursday November 6 at 6:30pm.   The sign-up sheet is in the game room.

There will be a Men's Division and a Women's Division (no further breakdowns in either division).   The top two finishers, in each division, will qualify to go to the "ACUI" regional tournament this coming Spring.

Other specifics about the qualifying tournament can be found at ACUI 9-Ball Qualifier .

The History of ACUI at NMT

New Mexico Tech started participating in ACUI events in the Spring of 2001. Information on the qualifying tournaments held by the Billy Aardd's Club can be found under the webpage for tournaments they've hosted ( Tournaments: Announcements and Schedules).

The first team went to the ACUI regional event hosted at e Air Force academy in Colorado Springs. Members of the team were, from 1st place to sixth: John Dietrich, Steve Deal, Dave Byrd, Nick Tarasenko, Aaron Adcock, and Orlando Chaparro. We did pretty well for our first time out though I don't recall where anybody placed.

Our second event, Spring of 2002, was at NMSU. This time we sent both a Women's team and a Men's team. On the Women's team were: Kelly Watson, and Tammy Oldfield. The men's team had: Dave Byrd, John Dietrich, Neil Barnas, Jeremy Manning, Nick Tarasenko, and Will Thompson. John Dietrich was playing well that week and came in second (just barely missing first in a tight contest). Nick placed 5-6, and Neil came in 7-8.

Spring 2003 saw us out at Weber State (Utah). The Women's team was: Layla Forman, Elizabeth Ball, Trista Sloan, and Karly Strand. The Men's team was: Will Thompson, Jeremiah Gage, Nick Tarasenko, Adam Dyba, Carsten Steinbach, and John Kouns.

We went to the University of Wyoming in Laramie for the Spring 2004 tournament. The Women's team was: Elizabeth Ball, and Trista Sloan. The Men's team was: Jeremiah Gage, Nick Tarasenko, Will Thompson, Larry Padilla, Lloyd Carothers, and Cris Cruz. Liz took third place and ended up going to Nationals. Larry took 9-12, and Lloyd took 13-16 (out of 43).

In 2005 the ACUI regional was held at UNM. For the Women's team we sent: Amanda Thom, Stacy O'Neil and Trista Sloan. The Men's team was: Larry Padilla, Jeremiah Gage, Christian Zwileneff, Nick Tarasenko, Paul Giannuzzi, and T.J. McCormack.

The Spring 2006 regional was at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Women's team was: Stacy O'Neil, and Julie Vann. The Men's team was Francisco Avila, Jacob Searcy, Christian Zwileneff, Preston Dell, Paul Giannuzzi, and Nate Reich. Stacy won second place.

The University of Utah hosted the Spring 2007 regional tournament. Stacy O'Neil and Melinda Moore were on the Women's team. Dylan Merrigan, Jacob Searcy, Chris Cruz, and Francisco Avila were on the Men's team. Jake came in fourth.

The 2008 regional was held at the University of Colorado, Colorado Spring. The Women's team was Stacy O'Neil and Delia Mocanu. The Men's team was Francisco Avila, Kensie Sturdevant, and Chris Aitken. Delia came in second and Stacy took third!   Delia went on to compete at Nationals.

We are hoping the field for this year's qualifying tournament will be larger than the last few years. Tech has done well at these ACUI regional events and it would be nice to continue the trend.