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August 3–8, 2007
Dayton, OH

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PC 2007 Division 1 Player Roster:
Detailed, Geographical

Photo Name Rating Home
[photo]

Larry Rand

63, retired

Rating: 1669

First-time competitor

Home: Chandler, AZ

Awards and Tournament Wins: Co-director of the year 2003; Dickinson College sports hall of fame

Hobbies: Travel, photography and family

[photo]

Jim Geary

40, gambolero

Rating: 1845

First-time competitor

Home: Phoenix, AZ

Awards and Tournament Wins: Western Intercollegiate Chess 1990; 20+ Scrabble Tourneys; 2nd place, Jack Rabbit Slim's Twist Contest, 1994

Hobbies: studying music, exercise, blogging: walterzuey, betting the Royals, riding bike midday past the 3-piece suits

[photo]

Laurie Cohen

Age withheld, Research Director

Rating: 1796

First-time competitor

Home: Tempe, AZ

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2003-12 Tucson, AZ

Hobbies: movies, travel

[photo]

Nathan Benedict

26, Professional gambler

Rating: 1902

First-time competitor

Home: Tucson, AZ

Awards and Tournament Wins: 11th at 2004 Nationals; 2003, 2004 Albuquerque NM; 2004-05 Los Gatos, CA; 2004-12 Tucson, NM; 2nd place Grand Canyon 2003; 2003, 1999 Reno Early Bird

Hobbies: Poker, crosswords, armchair economics

[photo]

Jerry Lerman

57, Risk Management Consultant

Rating: 1838

First-time competitor

Home: Foster City, CA

Awards and Tournament Wins: Invitee to World Scrabble Championship, 1993 and 2005

Hobbies: Reading, Local Newspaper Publishing, Chess

[photo]

Conrad Bassett-Bouchard

17, Student

Rating: 1835

First-time competitor

Home: Moraga, CA

Awards and Tournament Wins: Surviving 4 simultaneous AP classes

Hobbies: Drums, Ultimate/Disc golf

[photo]

Lester Schonbrun

71, Legal Assistant/Computers

Rating: 1774

First-time competitor

Home: Oakland, CA

Awards and Tournament Wins: Best supporting actor, 1927 in Birth of a Nation; runner-up in NSC Wash, DC, winner West Coast Chmp., numerous others

Hobbies: Bird watching and stamp collecting - or watching birds collect stamps.

[photo]

Cesar Del Solar

23, Engineer

Rating: 1687

First-time competitor

Home: Pasadena, CA

Hobbies: Guitar, music, programming, making awkward conversation-stopping comments

[photo]

Doug Brockmeier

23, Grad Student

Rating: 1850

First-time competitor

Home: Yorba Linda, CA

Hobbies: eating, reading, writing, music, movies

[photo]

Jon Shreve

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1731

First-time competitor

Home: Denver, CO

[photo]

Dominick Mancine

33, Software engineer

Rating: 1778

First-time competitor

Home: Louisville, CO

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2nd place Pinewood Derby, 1982; Tallest rated Scrabble player in Colorado

Hobbies: computers

[photo]

Jesse Day

19, Student

Rating: 1796

First-time competitor

Home: New Haven, CT

Awards and Tournament Wins: Div. D, Stamford 2005; Div. C, Cape Cod 2005; continued survival

Hobbies: Games, Music, Reading, Frisbee, Random trivia

[photo]

Robert Quigley

20, Student, Gardener

Rating: 1752

First-time competitor

Home: New Haven, CT

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Music

[photo]

Alyssa Faria

32, occupation withheld

Rating: 1796

First-time competitor

Home: Washington, DC

[photo]

John Luebkemann

Age withheld, Actuary

Rating: 1887

First-time competitor

Home: Bear, DE

Awards and Tournament Wins: Many Tournament wins places and shows over 22 years of play

Hobbies: Sudoku, Weight Training, Listening to Music

[photo]

Jan Dixon

Age withheld, accountant

Rating: 1744

First-time competitor

Home: Newark, DE

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1st place Boston Premier in my prime; 4th place Super Stars; Two superb children; Two amazing grandchildren

Hobbies: hiking, crossword puzzles, dancing

[photo]

Ian Weinstein

41, physician

Rating: 1963

First-time competitor

Home: Coral Springs, FL

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2002-02 Stuart, FL; 2002-03 Stuart, FL; 2003-01 Treasure Coast, FL;2003-08 Fort Lauderdale, FL; 2004-10 Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Hobbies: bridge, poker, and the quest for prajna

[photo]

Ron Tiekert

60, Educational Software Managing Editor

Rating: 1872

First-time competitor

Home: Melbourne, FL

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1985 National Champion; winner Boston Premier 3 times; played in 3 Worlds' - best finish 5th; top 10 finish in 6 NSCs; 2004-10 Stuart, FL; 2005-03 Gainsville, FL

Hobbies: Scrabble, Table Tennis

[photo]

Steve Polatnick

62, attorney at law

Rating: 1763

First-time competitor

Home: Miami, FL

Awards and Tournament Wins: 4th Place, World Scrabble Championship 2001

Hobbies: tennis, bicycle touring, foreign languages

[no photo]

Carl Stocker

75, emeritus professor

Rating: 1753

First-time competitor

Home: Miami, FL

Hobbies: piano, tennis, computers,photography

[photo]

Robert Kahn

62, attorney

Rating: 1764

First-time competitor

Home: Plantation, FL

Awards and Tournament Wins: three-time Florida State Champion

Hobbies: collecting antique gumball machines, movies, music & sports fan

[photo]

Dave Leifer

61, Corporate Tax Director

Rating: 1751

First-time competitor

Home: Alpharetta, GA

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2006 Charlotte Division 2 Champion, Distinguished Service Award, Instute for Professionals in Taxation

Hobbies: Sports, Music, Fitness

[photo]

Greg A. Heidler

50, attorney

Rating: 1666

First-time competitor

Home: Waialua, HI

Hobbies: tennis

[photo]

Jeremy Cahnmann

32, Umpire

Rating: 1767

First-time competitor

Home: Chicago, IL

Hobbies: baseball, politics & having a good time

[photo]

Brian Cappelletto

37, trader

Rating: 1935

First-time competitor

Home: Chicago, IL

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1998 NSC; 2001 WSC; 1997, 2004 Boston Premier; 1999, 2002, 2003 Reno

Hobbies: golf, impersonations, fantasy baseball

[photo]

Peter Schwartzman

38, College Professor

Rating: 1807

First-time competitor

Home: Galesburg, IL

Awards and Tournament Wins: father, teacher

Hobbies: writing, peace making, environmentalism

[photo]

Marty Marcus

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1701

First-time competitor

Home: Wilmette, IL

Awards and Tournament Wins: 10 Division 1 firsts, 9th place at NSC (year?)

[no photo]

Mike Paxson

59, Welfare Worker

Rating: 1666

First-time competitor

Home: Bloomington, IN

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2004-07 Indianapolis, IN; 2004-12, 2005-03 Elizabethtown, KY

[photo]

Jeff Reeves

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1703

First-time competitor

Home: Woodworth, LA

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2001-09 Lafayette, LA

[photo]

Steve Saul

52, Scientist

Rating: 1738

First-time competitor

Home: Arlington, MA

Hobbies: Golf

[photo]

Cecilia Le

Age withheld, journalist

Rating: 1766

First-time competitor

Home: Boston, MA

Awards and Tournament Wins: kent gardens elementary spelling bee champ

Hobbies: beach reading, tree climbing, sushi tasting, dognaping

[photo]

Aaron Bader

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1846

First-time competitor

Home: Cambridge, MA

[photo]

John O'Laughlin

27, Software Engineer

Rating: 1960

First-time competitor

Home: Cambridge, MA

Hobbies: music, books, puzzles

[photo]

Rod MacNeil

33, Administrative and Project Support for Preservation Architecture firm

Rating: 1905

First-time competitor

Home: Somerville, MA

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1999 2000 2003 Cape Cod; 2003 Rhombus Cup; 2004 Boston (A); 2005 (12th) NSC; 2007 Michigan Madness; 2007 Montreal

Hobbies: Fantasy sports, traveling, movies, cheese, representing Red Sox Nation

[photo]

Marlon Hill

Age withheld, WRITER

Rating: 1817

First-time competitor

Home: Baltimore, MD

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2001-11 Baltimore, MD; 2003-10 Baltimore, MD

Hobbies: MUSIC

[photo]

Sammy Okosagah

Age withheld, Restaurant Manager

Rating: 1914

First-time competitor

Home: Baltimore, MD

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1990 Nigerian NSC; 2004-07 Reno, NV

Hobbies: Soccer, Music

[photo]

Robert P. Linn

63, Financial Advisor, Managing Director, Board Member

Rating: 1793

First-time competitor

Home: Potomac, MD

Awards and Tournament Wins: 15 Division 1 Tourney wins; 1994 (9th) Thailand; 1989 (3rd) Australian Open

Hobbies: tennis, ping pong, travel

[photo]

Joey Mallick

27, Chart-man

Rating: 1934

First-time competitor

Home: Cape Elizabeth, ME

Awards and Tournament Wins: Yes, but not many; 2004-10 Cape Cod, MA; 2005-01 Reno, NV

Hobbies: Internet surfing, old video games, sudoku

[photo]

Scott Pianowski

38, Web Journalist

Rating: 1760

First-time competitor

Home: Berkley, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2005-04 Farmington, MI; 2000-07 Milan Invitational

Hobbies: Music, most sports, poker, roto, hanging with Kit

[photo]

Steve Grob

49, stay at home dad

Rating: 1745

First-time competitor

Home: Fenton, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: NSA AB member since 1999; 2002-11 Port Huron, MI

Hobbies: backgammon, poker

[photo]

J. Paul Epstein

55, Social Worker

Rating: 1793

First-time competitor

Home: Keego Harbor, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: 5th--NSC Dallas 1996, 5th--NSC San Diego 2002, 25th--WSC Melbourne 1999

Hobbies: Music, Standup Comedy

[photo]

Ron Hoekstra

39, Accountant

Rating: 1812

First-time competitor

Home: Kentwood, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2000 CNSC

Hobbies: Hockey, music, languages

[photo]

Jeff Fiszbein

50, clinical pharmacist

Rating: 1691

First-time competitor

Home: South Lyon, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2004 Arden Cup Div B winner

Hobbies: baseball, basketball, Frisbee golf, philately

[photo]

Keith Cejmer

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1701

First-time competitor

Home: Stevensville, MI

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2004-10 Petosky, MI

[photo]

Joe Gaspard

52, Public Service Manager

Rating: 1750

First-time competitor

Home: Minneapolis, MN

Awards and Tournament Wins: Daughter Amy, Age 20

Hobbies: Theater, Reading, Writing

[photo]

Jim Kramer

48, Proofreader

Rating: 1884

First-time competitor

Home: Roseville, MN

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2006 U.S. Scrabble Open Champion

[photo]

Lisa Odom

48, Quality Assurance Analyst

Rating: 1773

First-time competitor

Home: St. Louis Park, MN

Awards and Tournament Wins: 3-time World Championship participant

Hobbies: reading, guitar, singing, design junkie, ventriloquist manque

[photo]

Steve Pellinen

54, Civil Engineer

Rating: 1771

First-time competitor

Home: St. Louis Park, MN

Awards and Tournament Wins: Ninth Grade Battle of Wits Champion; 2005-03 Twin Cities, MN

Hobbies: Reading, music, baseball

[photo]

Amit Chakrabarti

31, Computer Scientist

Rating: 1703

First-time competitor

Home: Hanover, NH

Awards and Tournament Wins: Winner BAT 2001, Atlantic City 2002, Parsippany SOWPODS 2003

Hobbies: Reading, music, cooking, mathematical puzzles

[photo]

Webster Phillips

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1739

First-time competitor

Home: Montclair, NJ

[photo]

Scott Appel

Age withheld, statistician

Rating: 1856

First-time competitor

Home: Trenton, NJ

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2003-08 Parsippany, NJ

Hobbies: Resident of Red Sox Nation, Toddler Chaser

[photo]

Stan Miranda

43, Physical Therapist

Rating: 1558

First-time competitor

Home: Albuquerque, NM

Awards and Tournament Wins: Valedictorian in HS

[photo]

Mike Baron

57, Psychologist

Rating: 1704

First-time competitor

Home: Corrales, NM

Awards and Tournament Wins: The Wordbook (1988,1994,2004), The Blankbook (1992)

Hobbies: journal writing, traveling, golf, reading

[photo]

Joel Sherman

45, Scrabble player

Rating: 1855

First-time competitor

Home: Bronx, NY

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1997 World, 2002 National Scrabble Champion, featured character in Fatsis' "Word Freak" and Chaikin's "Word Wars"

Hobbies: piano, singing, movies

[photo]

Joe Edley

59, Consultant to the National SCRABBLE Association

Rating: 1925

First-time competitor

Home: Coram, NY

Awards and Tournament Wins: 3 time National SCRABBLE Champion

Hobbies: reading, movies, tai chi

[photo]

Mark McCraw

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1871

First-time competitor

Home: Croton, NY

[photo]

Rose Kreiswirth

69, Retired Mental Health Clinic Administrator

Rating: 1823

First-time competitor

Home: East Northport, NY

Hobbies: Reading....Puzzles....Mah Jongg....Volunteer work

[photo]

Debbie Stegman

45, Human Resources Executive

Rating: 1736

First-time competitor

Home: Kew Gardens, NY

[photo]

Steve Tier

66, Teacher

Rating: 1831

First-time competitor

Home: New York, NY

Awards and Tournament Wins: Long Island Science Teacher of the Year; 2002-07 Albany, NY

Hobbies: crossword puzzles

[photo]

Ted Rosen

59, Newspaper Copy Editor

Rating: 1644

First-time competitor

Home: Rochester, NY

Awards and Tournament Wins: Prizes in art shows at national, international level, also Williamsville Art Society Shows

Hobbies: Painting, collecting classical records, reading, running, fishing (with rod and reel).

[photo]

Chris Lipe

26, computer programmer

Rating: 1694

First-time competitor

Home: Rome, NY

Hobbies: playing saxophone

[photo]

Karl Higby

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 1766

First-time competitor

Home: Schenectady, NY

[photo]

Frank Tangredi

52, social studies textbook editor; aspiring playwright

Rating: 1801

First-time competitor

Home: West Babylon, NY

Awards and Tournament Wins: winning my division at BAT every 16 years; $32K winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Hobbies: acting; singing; anagrams; creating elaborate trivia games

[photo]

Jean Carol

Age withheld, Retired Teacher

Rating: 1673

First-time competitor

Home: Cincinnati, OH

Awards and Tournament Wins: SuperStar - It was an honor just to be there

Hobbies: travel, studying Spanish and Russian

[photo]

Michael Baker

47, Engineering Technician

Rating: 1695

First-time competitor

Home: Portland, OR

Hobbies: Poker, Pool.

[photo]

Dave Wiegand

33, Mortgage Underwriter

Rating: 1908

First-time competitor

Home: Portland, OR

Awards and Tournament Wins: (9th) 2001 WSC; (2nd) 1994 (3rd) 2000 (6th) 2002 NSC (1st) 2005 NSC; 2004-05 Seattle, WA; 2004-06 SWILLINS; 2004-09 Portland and numerous other Western US tournament

Hobbies: Bridge, Music

[photo]

Steve Oliger

58, Retired Electronics Technician

Rating: 1714

First-time competitor

Home: Holtwood, PA

Awards and Tournament Wins: Uhhhh...; 2004-06 Indianapolis, IN

Hobbies: music, travel, reading, writing, computers

[photo]

Keith Smith

Age withheld, Computer Programmer

Rating: 1718

First-time competitor

Home: Austin, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2003-03 Lubbock, TX; 2004-06 Arlington, TX

[photo]

Chris Cree

52, used equipment, sales and leasing

Rating: 1884

First-time competitor

Home: Dallas, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2002-02 Salado, TX; 2002-02 Phoenix, AZ; 2002-06, 2003-06 Mid-Cities, TX;2003-08 Houston, TX; 2004-01 Lampasas, TX; 2004-02 Costa Rica; 2004-06 Provence, France

Hobbies: golf, music, reading

[photo]

Orry Swift

20, Student

Rating: 1857

First-time competitor

Home: Dayton, TX

Hobbies: Video Games, Basketball, Anime

[photo]

Michael Early

Age withheld, musician

Rating: 1790

First-time competitor

Home: Fort Worth, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: Texas State Scrabble Champ 1994, Division Two Champ 2005

Hobbies: songwriting, composing, philosphy, games

[photo]

Ben Withers

59, Physician

Rating: 1797

First-time competitor

Home: Houston, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2003-02, 2005-02 Salado, TX; 2005-01 Waco, TX; (51st) 2003 WSC; Texas State Champion 2003 and 2005

Hobbies: Travel, Reading

[photo]

Winter Zxqkj

35, Computer programmer

Rating: 1629

First-time competitor

Home: Houston, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: Not a thing.

Hobbies: traveling

[photo]

Darrell Day

50, Executive Search Firm CEO

Rating: 1849

First-time competitor

Home: Richardson, TX

Awards and Tournament Wins: Former City Councilman; wrote feature published in NY Times

Hobbies: basketball, jogging, volleyball, chasing my 3-year-old

[photo]

Mike Frentz

24, Student

Rating: 1775

First-time competitor

Home: Seattle, WA

Awards and Tournament Wins: National Merit Scholar

Hobbies: Reading, theater, poker, piano-playing

[photo]

Jesse Matthews

21, Vaquero

Rating: 1744

First-time competitor

Home: Calgary, AB, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: Hopefully a good result at Nationals :-)

Hobbies: pwning n00bs

[photo]

Dean Saldanha

24, Castings administrator

Rating: 1809

First-time competitor

Home: Richmond, BC, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: (1st) 2005 Vancouver; (2nd) 2003 CNSC

Hobbies: Hockey, soccer, tennis, basketball, music, chess, reading

[photo]

James Leong

22, Bum

Rating: 1808

First-time competitor

Home: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2003-06 Victoria BC; I can look like a spaz on a dancing machine

Hobbies: Praying it doesn't rain for another few weeks in Vancouver.

[photo]

Tony Leah

58, Labour Union Educator

Rating: 1749

First-time competitor

Home: Ajax, ON, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2nd, 2005 CNSC

Hobbies: labour history, music

[photo]

Christopher Sykes

41, Computer Programmer/Analyst

Rating: 1805

First-time competitor

Home: Cambridge, ON, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: 3rd Canadian Nationals 2000

Hobbies: nothing in particular

[photo]

Robin Pollock Daniel

45, Mom/Psychotherapist

Rating: 1719

First-time competitor

Home: Toronto, ON, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: Played in 1993 1995 1997 2001 WSC; played in 2002 2004 Can-Am; 2000, 2001 Toronto; 2003 Atlantic City; 2003 Boston Premier

Hobbies: Fitness, Gourmet Cooking

[photo]

Zev Kaufman

60, Contractor

Rating: 1777

First-time competitor

Home: Toronto, ON, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: Qualified for Canada's Team to World Championships 4 times. Toronto Club Champion 12 times.

Hobbies: Talmud and Kabbalah

[photo]

Joel Wapnick

61, University professor

Rating: 1822

First-time competitor

Home: Montreal, QC, Canada

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1983 NSC; (2nd) 1993 WSC; 1998 CNSC; 1999 WSC; (2nd) 2001 WSC

Hobbies: Scrabble (more than a hobby)

[no photo]

Thacha Koowirat

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 0

First-time competitor

Home: Thailand

[photo]

Pakorn Nemitrmansuk

31, architect

Rating: 1971

First-time competitor

Home: Bangkok, Thailand

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1992 2003 Thailand Champion; (2nd) 2003, (2nd) 2005 WSC

Hobbies: soccer

[photo]

Amnuay Ploysangngam

42, Businessman

Rating: 1794

First-time competitor

Home: Bangkok, Thailand

Awards and Tournament Wins: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 Thailand Grand Prix Champion

Hobbies: Golf, Football

[photo]

Panupol Sujjayakorn

22, Student

Rating: 1939

First-time competitor

Home: Bangkok, Thailand

Awards and Tournament Wins: 2002 Thailand Match Play Champion, 2003 World Champion

Hobbies: Football

[photo]

Navapadol Sayavesa

23, Student

Rating: 0

First-time competitor

Home: Muang, Samutprakarn, Thailand

Hobbies: Football

[no photo]

Mike Whiteoak

Age withheld, occupation withheld

Rating: 0

First-time competitor

Home: Okehampton, Devon, United Kingdom