Hall of Fame & Athlete Awards

Hall of Fame Inductees
• Van Dubolsky
• Ruben Gonzalez
• Jim Winterton

Athlete Awards
• Cheryl Gudinas
• Adam Karp
• Jo Kenyon
• Jimmy Lowe

Van Dubolsky — Van Dubolsky has served as a long-standing guide and advisor to racquetball for over a quarter of a century, first through his involvement at the local level in his home state of Florida, then later as he branched out to earn the first of several terms on the then-AARA Board of Directors in 1983. Founder of the Florida Racquetball Association, which held the #2 spot among all USRA state affiliates for many years, Dubolsky played a key role in the development of racquetball in the Southeast as both a state and regional administrator, while remaining competitive in the sport at the national level and earning a series of titles in his own right. Recognized as the primary architect of the USRA’s Long Range Planning and Vision Statement, which was adopted as the USRA’s organizational blueprint over 12 years ago (and remains in effect today), Dubolsky’s insights and guidance have contributed to the overall steady growth of the sport through what many have termed its “lean years.” His service – from manning the tournament desks of national championships across the country through several terms as USRA Board President, Secretary and Treasurer – plus his unquestioned devotion to racquetball at every conceivable level, have earned him a place in the sport’s history and its Hall of Fame.

Ruben Gonzalez — Ruben Gonzalez has excelled in the sport of racquetball by maintaining the most consistent level of excellence by a single player over the course of a 20-year career on both the amateur and professional circuits. Even now, at 48 years of age, he shows no sign of slowing down – going so far as to regain a spot on the U.S. National Team when he and partner Mike Guidry captured the U.S. National Doubles Championship last October. The pair will compete as part of Team USA at the World Championships this summer. An undisputed “team leader” due to his competitive edge coupled with a wealth of experience, Gonzalez is the oldest athlete to ever earn an appointment to the U.S. National Team.

On the professional circuit, Gonzalez captured his first tour title more than 10 years ago, which – at the time – earned him the distinction of becoming the oldest pro tour athlete to win such an event. Throughout his tour career, he has been recognized for his outstanding sportsmanship and dedication to fair play, while consistently finding himself – at each season’s end – with ranking positions among the top 10 through 1995. At the 1999 Promus U.S. OPEN Championships, the sport’s premier grand slam event, Gonzalez shocked many by upsetting several of the current top-ranked pros, many years his junior, before being knocked out in the quarterfinals by his own protégé Sudsy Monchik.

Jim Winterton — Jim Winterton has gained renown as one of the best racquetball coaches in the world, after service to the U.S. National Team for a full decade, during which time his squads brought home the World Cup from every International Racquetball Federation World Championship played in the period. He also led national teams to five Tournament of the Americas team crowns and a clean sweep of the 1995 Pan Am Games, where the USA brought home six gold and two silver medals. For his last hurrah as U.S. National Team Head Coach at the 1999 Pan Am Games, Winterton’s team nearly repeated that clean sweep of the medals, claiming six gold, a silver and a bronze medal. After resigning from the U.S. National Team Head Coach position last fall, he served a brief term as coach of the U.S. Junior National Team before stepping down to accept the position of Head Coach of the Mexican National Team.

In the Open division category, Adam Karp and Cheryl Gudinas have been selected as the USRA Male and Female Athletes of the Year, while Joanna Kenyon and Jimmy Lowe were chosen to receive the Peggy Steding and Bud Muehleisen Awards, in recognition of their age-group performances in senior division competition.

USRA Female Athlete of the Year: Cheryl Gudinas — After years of amassing a vast collection of silver and bronze medals – Gudinas struck a vein of gold in 1999, which began in Houston and ran all the way up to Canada. At the U.S. National Singles Championships, Gudinas upset top-pro Jackie Paraiso in the semifinals, and later bested Laura Fenton in the final for her first singles crown. The win made her Team USA’s top women’s singles player at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, where she blew past a field of international players to the gold medal round, where local favorite Christie Van Hees was waiting for her. The two battled their way into a tiebreaker, where Gudinas rallied through a 9-10 deficit to top her Canadian rival, 11-10, for the gold medal. Cheryl’s winning streak came to an end at the U.S. National Doubles Championships, where she earned a bronze medal in the women’s open with Malia Bailey and a silver in mixed open with Jimmy Lowe.

USRA Male Athlete of the Year: Adam Karp — After another successful year, the “Flying Fish” adds a second-consecutive USRA Male Athlete of the Year award to his list of 1999 accolades. Karp continued to build on his string of successes from the 1998 season by repeating as the men’s open champion, with a win over Michael Bronfeld, at the Ektelon 32nd U.S. National Singles Championships. His luck stretched into the summer at the 13th Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, where he once again met Bronfeld, his teammate on the U.S. National Team, in the gold-medal round. Once again Karp got the best of Bronfeld to bring home the gold medal. In the fall his luck changed when a broken ball at the Ektelon 32nd U.S. National Doubles Championships, turned an apparent victory into defeat. A celebration by he and partner Andy Roberts – at what had appeared to be match point in the men’s open finals – was cut short with the discovery a broken ball on the play. Following the replay, Karp and Roberts lost the second game, and the subsequent tiebreaker, to Mike Guidry and Hall of Famer Ruben Gonzalez.

Peggy Steding Award Recipient: Jo Kenyon — USRA Hall of Famer Jo Kenyon will add her first Peggy Steding Award to her long list of racquetball honors after a successful year in the women’s 60+ and 65+ divisions. At both the U.S. National Singles Championships and the U.S. OPEN, Kenyon brought home gold medals in both age divisions. At National Doubles, she and partner Lola Markus were awarded the gold medal in the women’s 65-and-older division. The duo also tested their skills against some younger competitors, finishing fourth in the women’s 45-and-older A/B division. At the international level, Kenyon took the women’s 65+ silver medal at the IRF World Senior Championships, in Albuquerque, N.M. At age 66, Kenyon becomes the oldest recipient of the Peggy Steding Award.

Bud Muehleisen Award Recipient: Jimmy Lowe — From the battlefield to the racquetball court, 37-year-old Lowe aims for victory. The 37-year-old, who is on active duty in the U.S. Army, captured the men’s 35-and-over division gold medal at National Singles last May. At the same time, he tried his hand at the elite level, and advanced into the round of 32 in the men’s open division. At the U.S. National Doubles Championships, Lowe partnered with national team-member Cheryl Gudinas to win the silver medal in the mixed doubles open division. He picked up a second silver medal in the mixed 35+ division with partner Malia Bailey, and also took a shot at an appointment to the U.S. National Team by competing in the men’s open division with fellow-U.S. Armed Forces Team member Tom Fuhrmann, where the duo lost a tiebreaker in the round of 16.