This was the big chance for lesser rated players to capture some big scalps, and increase their ratings significantly. To the credit of the top bracket of NSW players, all were in attendance to risk their hard earned rating points, and hopefully take out the honors.
All three of our WSC contestants were making their last appearance at this tournament, before departing for Washington. Esther Perrins, winner of this event on two occasions, scraped into second place, John Holgate, Tournament Organiser, finished third, while Paul Cleary, the new Vice President of ASPA (NSW), came in fifth.
But the honours went to Joan Rosenthal for the second year running, easily outclassing the rest of the field. She was unbeatable going into the final round, having chalked up a two game lead and a massive spread. It must be said that the women of the species seem to excel in these types of events, as four out of the five marathons held so far have been won by the fairer sex.
Richard Birch, a member of the caspa mailing list, achieved the highest rating gain of 170 points, largely due to a victory over John Holgate. Richard is responsible for the popular 'Rhyming Fours' list, amongst othervthings that I'd rather not go into.
Another list member, Derek McKenzie, achieved high game score with 140 for DETAINEE. It is known on the best authority that Derek, who has an insatiable appetite for Scrabble, was detained himself till 2am the same night playing another unrated mini tournament.
Arthur Isaac, a list member and erstwhile player at the Wyong Central Coast Club, made his comeback after an 18 month absence and proceeded to pick up a swag of ratings points, mainly at my expense.
And Marie Knight paid us a visit from Lake Cathie to make up for her inability to attend the recent Championships, and cracked it for a 600+ game to remind us she is still in the Scrabble business.
Here are the results:
Results after game 12
SPRING MARATHON 25.10.97 -- MARATHON 97
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Joan Rosenthal 10 1249
2 Esther Perrins 9 952
3 John Holgate 9 510
4 John Barker 9 172
5 Paul Cleary 8 605
6 Bob Jackman 8 474
7 Jean Noonan 8 308
8 Jean Mcgiffen 8 161
9 Sam Greenberg 8 0
10 Richard Birch 8 -56
11 Robyn Flynn 7« 557
12 Joanne Craig 7« 197
13 Arthur Isaac 7 304
14 Jan Serisier 7 274
15 Glenda Harington 7 188
16 Peter Shaw 7 176
17 Ethel Collins 7 147
18 Jenny Templeton 7 55
19 Edith Lowbeer 7 -189
20 Gordon Meggs 6« 362
21 Jeff Spring 6« 268
22 Audrey Newman 6« -9
23 Marie Knight 6 659
24 Rod Talbot 6 453
25 Jeff Chelton 6 114
26 Nanette Reynolds 6 88
27 Ivana Duria 6 74
28 Fay Van Oyen 6 -24
29 Ivor Zetler 6 -179
30 Nonie English 6 -219
31 Dawn Spring 6 -242
32 Trish Windhurst 6 -461
33 Graeme Lock Lee 5« -124
34 Derek Mckenzie 5 193
35 Ian Close 5 54
36 Norma Tracey 5 27
37 Liz Jackman 5 8
38 Ros Gibbons 5 -116
39 Lan Knox 5 -153
40 Dulcie Lyall 5 -179
41 Judy Mcguinness 5 -221
42 Alan Gauci 5 -288
43 David Etherington 5 -310
44 Nancy Sacchetti 5 -772
45 Silvana Newman 4 -132
46 Donna Macdonald 4 -253
47 Sunny Wright 4 -314
48 Andree Lajoie 4 -343
49 Helen Young 4 -367
50 Daphne Bezuidenhout 4 -726
51 Ann Fiddler 4 -803
52 Diana Field 4 -1059
53 Rudolf Puntschuh 3 -490
HIGH GAME: Marie Knight 604
HIGH WORD: Derek Mackenzie 140
"DETAINEE"
Stats for Tournament : SPRING MARATHON 25.10.97
+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New |
+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *MARATHON 97 + + + +
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 6 5 | 5 4 | 7.4 10.0 | 1871 +44 1915 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 2 2 | 1 1 | 9.0 9.0 | 1977 +0 1976 |
| NSW John Holgate | 3 3 | 2 2 | 9.2 9.0 | 1965 +0 1964 |
| NSW John Barker | 26 23 | 10 9 | 8.3 9.0 | 1773 +14 1787 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 5 6 | 4 5 | 8.3 8.0 | 1882 -4 1877 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 41 35 | 14 12 | 7.4 8.0 | 1724 +15 1739 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 4 4 | 3 3 | 10.1 8.0 | 1953 -33 1919 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 114 117 | 32 32 | 9.1 8.0 | 1532 -18 1513 |
| NSW Richard Birch | 398 292 | 98 72 | 1.7 8.0 | 999 +170 1169 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 192 170 | 47 41 | 6.2 8.0 | 1363 +42 1405 |
| NSW Robyn Flynn | 66 59 | 18 18 | 6.5 7.5 | 1645 +21 1666 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 84 86 | 25 24 | 7.7 7.5 | 1601 -4 1596 |
| NSW Ethel Collins | 212 185 | 51 46 | 3.9 7.0 | 1317 +61 1378 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 35 34 | 12 11 | 7.0 7.0 | 1743 +0 1743 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 219 195 | 53 48 | 3.8 7.0 | 1296 +65 1361 |
| NSW Glenda Harington | 69 79 | 20 20 | 8.7 7.0 | 1636 -32 1603 |
| NSW Arthur Isaac | 303 269 | 73 65 | 4.4 7.0 | 1146 +52 1198 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 206 210 | 48 52 | 7.5 7.0 | 1337 -9 1327 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 325 306 | 77 75 | 5.9 7.0 | 1117 +27 1144 |
| NSW Jeff Spring | 147 151 | 39 40 | 7.2 6.5 | 1450 -11 1438 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 79 81 | 22 22 | 7.2 6.5 | 1614 -12 1601 |
| NSW Gordon Meggs | 238 231 | 59 59 | 6.0 6.5 | 1257 +10 1267 |
| NSW Marie Knight | 21 28 | 9 10 | 9.6 6.0 | 1806 -54 1751 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 39 54 | 13 17 | 8.7 6.0 | 1735 -52 1682 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds | 329 307 | 79 76 | 4.4 6.0 | 1113 +31 1144 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton | 102 123 | 30 34 | 8.9 6.0 | 1562 -58 1503 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 29 53 | 11 16 | 9.4 6.0 | 1751 -67 1683 |
| NSW Nonie English | 486 458 | 126 115 | 3.8 6.0 | 886 +44 930 |
| NSW Ivana Duria | 610 548 | 151 138 | 3.0 6.0 | 770 +60 830 |
| NSW Trish Windhurst | 487 460 | 127 116 | 4.0 6.0 | 886 +40 926 |
| NSW Dawn Spring | 346 345 | 87 87 | 5.6 6.0 | 1074 +8 1082 |
| NSW Fay Van Oyen | 434 408 | 107 100 | 4.8 6.0 | 957 +24 981 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 77 94 | 21 26 | 7.9 5.5 | 1624 -46 1577 |
| NSW Derek McKenzie | 208 209 | 50 51 | 5.2 5.0 | 1331 +0 1331 |
| NSW Ian Close | 133 144 | 36 38 | 6.2 5.0 | 1484 -22 1461 |
| NSW Judy McGuinness | 344 354 | 86 88 | 5.9 5.0 | 1079 -17 1061 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 242 250 | 61 61 | 5.9 5.0 | 1253 -17 1235 |
| NSW Liz Jackman | 249 273 | 62 67 | 7.2 5.0 | 1239 -44 1194 |
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 187 204 | 46 49 | 6.4 5.0 | 1375 -27 1347 |
| NSW Dulcie Lyall | 67 107 | 19 29 | 9.5 5.0 | 1641 -89 1551 |
| NSW David Etherington | 792 762 | 208 197 | 3.1 5.0 | 570 +38 608 |
| NSW Alan Gauci | 499 455 | 131 114 | 2.0 5.0 | 872 +60 932 |
| NSW Lan Knox | 532 519 | 136 132 | 4.6 5.0 | 849 +8 857 |
| NSW Nancy Sacchetti | 803 769 | 210 200 | 2.7 5.0 | 558 +46 604 |
| NSW Sunny Wright | 469 485 | 121 126 | 4.6 4.0 | 908 -12 895 |
| NSW Silvana Newman | 602 643 | 148 160 | 6.7 4.0 | 779 -54 724 |
| NSW Helen Young | 402 464 | 100 118 | 7.6 4.0 | 993 -72 920 |
| NSW Donna MacDonald | 704 671 | 173 168 | 2.3 4.0 | 667 +33 700 |
| NSW Andree Lajoie | 845 810 | 224 212 | 2.7 4.0 | 512 +40 552 |
| NSW Daphne Bezuidenhout | 737 734 | 189 186 | 3.6 4.0 | 635 +8 643 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler | 744 737 | 191 189 | 3.2 4.0 | 627 +15 642 |
| NSW Diana Field | 872 843 | 234 224 | 2.8 4.0 | 492 +24 516 |
| NSW Rudolf Puntschuh | 491 585 | 130 146 | 6.9 3.0 | 877 -78 798 |
|+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
Bob Jackman