Austin, TX, WPH Press, 7/14/24
The University of Texas Handball Team proudly hosted the 2024 Longhorn Classic at Austin’s Gregory Gym on the second weekend in July, featuring players from Texas, Arkansas, Utah and Colorado in one of the summer’s biggest 4-Wall events.
Men’s Open Singles
Race 4 Eight pro Taylor Schmitt relied on his pro tour experience to clinch one of his biggest titles, overcoming Kieran Vanderslice in two close games in the quarterfinals and sweeping Meleci Gonzalez in the semifinals and Holden Smith in the final to claim the Men’s Open Singles.
“Taylor and Holden play frequently, so they’re very familiar with each other’s games,” stated WPH reporter Kristen Hughes. “Holden had defeated Taylor in a close tiebreaker in our Spring tournament, earning himself the top seed this past weekend. This time, Taylor led most of the first game and was able to make a comeback in the second to close out the match. Holden had jumped out to a pretty big lead in the second game (12-5), but Taylor played mistake free ball the rest of the game and didn’t give up another point.”
Semifinals
Smith def N. Frank 21-15, 21-18
Schmitt def M. Gonzalez 21-13, 21-15
Final: T. Schmitt def H. Smith 21-7, 21-12
Women’s Open Singles
Kristen Hughes added another title at Gregory Gym with a dominating weekend performance, including serving a Sunday bagel in the final.
“I was able to defend the Women’s Open title in two games against Caitlin Behne, the president of the Texas A&M handball team,” stated Hughes. “She’s continuing to improve rapidly, despite already being a great player, so I knew it’d be a fun match. I was able to find a rhythm with left lob serves and focusing on passes, but she ran up ten straight points in the first game with door serves and re-kills. This was only the second time we’ve faced each other, even though we’ve been competing in the same tournaments across Texas for a few years, and I hope we get to play each other more often in the future.”
Semifinals
Hughes def J. Sammis
Behne def S. Smith 21-9, 21-0
Final: K. Hughes def C. Behne 21-10, 21-0
Follow all of the brackets from the 2024 Longhorn Classic Handball Tournament HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer