2200 Club upset top-seeded and undefeated Morgan Stanley to capture the San Diego Hoops championship 52-49 on March 15.

2200 Club, seeded seventh out of eight teams in the league, posted their third upset in a row after dominating third-seeded Pomegranate 41-28 the week before in the semifinals and second-seeded AAA Mortgage 53-36 in the tournament opener on March 1.

2200 Club tried to prove they were good enough to be there, while Morgan Stanley tried to prove to spectators and themselves that they could remain undefeated through the entire season and still win the championship. 2200 Club held a 28-18 lead at halftime.

In the second half, it was clear Morgan Stanley was on a mission. They came out playing incredibly aggressively, running a full-court press. 2200 Club remained in the lead throughout the half, however.

Morgan Stanley got within 5 points, trailing 47-42 with 54 seconds remaining as they started fouling to give themselves a chance to win.

Not giving up, Paul Demke hit an amazing 3-point shot to get Morgan Stanley within 3 points with just three seconds left on the clock. After a short timeout call by 2200 Club, the ball was in-bounded to 2200 Club’s Amy McClure, who was immediately fouled and went to the line. Although she did not convert, Jeff Praught grabbed the rebound as time ran out.

2200 Club ended the post-season with a 7-10 overall record, while Morgan Stanley finished at 16-1.

The stifling heat and humidity did not deter many San Diego athletes from bringing home a slew of medals at Gay Games VII, held July 15-22 in Chicago.

In swimming competition, a large contingent from the Different Strokes Swim Team (DSST) earned the most medals out of any other San Diego team at the Gay Games with 99 overall: 43 gold, 22 silver and 34 bronze.

Bart McDermott led all San Diego swimmers with eight gold medals. Mark Wussler earned eight medals overall, including five gold, and Mike Ahern earned six gold medals.

Wendy Kellner led all women with seven medals and Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen earned six medals, including five gold. Tar Larner, Lisa Leonard and Annette Bernier earned five medals each.

Antonio Whitely, Mike Greenberg and Lauri Stock earned four medals each, while Mark Spratt, Abel Menchaca, Kim Theriault, Eurika Otto, and Mandy Sapsford each won three medals.

Fred Will, Joey Hinton, Mike Given Scott Ehrlich, Karen Poirier, Christina McCall, and Sinthya Carranza won two medals each. Kyle West, Bob Ryan, Eric Neilen, Jim Harden, Russ Emmons and Ian Dolman each earned a medal.

In track and field and road racing events, Front Runners & Walkers San Diego members earned several medals.

Stock added to her swimming medals with a silver in the 45-49 age division of the 5K race. She also earned four gold, another silver and a bronze in other track and field events. Debbie Chaddock earned bronze in the 5K and silver in the 10K, both within the 45-49 age division.

Thomas Sester earned a bronze in the 5K and also earned six other medals in various track and field events. Ed Karas won the gold medal in the 70-99 age division of the 5K and added six other medals in other events. Millie Schaffer earned a silver medal in the women’s 60-64 division of the 5K.

Jennifer Stary won 11 total medals in various track and field events, including a gold medal in the women’s 45-49 age division of the 400 meter, discus, shot put, javelin and two other relays. She also earned a silver medal in the 100- and 200-meter races.

Jess LaBonte won a silver in the 50-54 age division of the marathon.

Chuck Van Beveren earned a gold medal in the men’s 60-64 javelin, while Eurika Otto earned a bronze in the women’s 40-44 shot put.

Joey Hinton finished in third place overall in the Olympic distance triathlon, while at the same time placing first in the men’s 40-44 age division to earn the gold medal. Dean Cortez won the gold medal in the men’s 35-39 category in the sprint triathlon.

In flag football, two out of three San Diego teams received medals. The San Diego Sharks won the gold medal in the Recreational Division with a 27-21 win over the Michigan Panthers, while the San Diego Toros earned a bronze in the Competitive Division.

The San Diego Bulldogs Wrestling Club earned four medals when they competed on July 17 at Northwestern University’s Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Kevin Servais won the gold medal in the Masters 125-lb. weight class, while Mat Moranville won the Bulldogs’ second gold medal of the day in the Open 220-lb. weight class.

Gary Gerber earned a silver medal in the Veterans 163-lb. weight class, while Ty Downey earned a silver medal in the Veterans 180.5-lb. weight class

The San Diego Scullers rowing team, consisting of Chad Gifford, Bryan Heers, Tim Moran and Tom Richman, took home the gold medal in the men’s Masters 4 rowing event on July 16.

Moran and Richman also received the silver medal in the men’s Masters doubles event, while Gifford and Heers earned a bronze.

In women’s softball, America’s Finest City Softball League’s Aberration team won the gold medal in the women’s B Division with a win over the San Francisco Pilsner Panthers on July 21, while California Mix – composed of players hailing from San Diego, San Francisco and Long Beach – won the gold medal in the women’s A Division. California Mix beat the DaMN Roadies twice to earn the gold medal during double-elimination play.

On July 21, Team San Diego won the gold medal in the women’s volleyball A Division with a 25-20, 25-15 win over San Francisco Fusion, the defending champions from the Sydney Gay Games. Team San Diego – composed of Darcy Frandsen, Judy Hissong, Susan Brondell, Linda McLellan, Lisa Mealer-Burke and Marla Goodman – went undefeated throughout the tournament, winning nine matches during the course of five days.

San Diego Tennis Federation’s Jim Winters won the gold medal in the 40-plus doubles tournament teaming with Patrick Loo. Winters also earned a bronze medal in the 40-plus singles tournament.

In C doubles, SDTF member Dominick DeCarlo teamed with Mitch Adams to earn a bronze medal.

In wrestling competition, Gerber won the gold medal in the men’s 35-plus 163-lb. weight class at First World Outgames on July 30 in Montreal, Canada.

Gerber beat Paul Andrews of London, England, 4-1 during a match that entailed three rounds.

Gerber was the only wrestler from the Bulldogs to travel to the Outgames and was part of 220 wrestlers competing in the tournament.

Two members of FRWSD also took home medals at Outgames. Dennis Conte earned four medals overall in various track and field events. In the 400-meter event, he won a silver medal in the men’s 60-64 age division. Conte also earned a bronze in the 1500-meter race. As part of the Trouble A relay team, Conte earned two medals, one for the 100-meter relay and another for the 200-meter relay.

In the marathon, LaBonte followed up his silver medal at Gay Games VII with a bronze in the 50-54 age division of the marathon. He finished the race in 3:41:29.

In a battle of regular season co-champions, The Flame Knights held on to an early 13-0 lead to beat the Martinis Above Fourth Eagles 31-25 to win the San Diego American Flag Football League (SDAFFL) championship on June 10.

A 15-yard Curtis Gammons’ pass to Kory Chambers opened the scoring for an early 7-0 Knights lead.

Grabbing the opportunity to build on the Knights’ lead, Gammons led their offense down the field again to find Chambers for another touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

On the next possession, the Eagles’ offense retaliated and marched down the field as Jesse Remar found his favorite target, Jim Giacobbe, in the end zone for a touchdown to close the Knights’ lead to 13-6.

At halftime, the Knights led 13-12 after another Remar touchdown pass to Jason Hefley.

During the second half, the Eagles stayed within one point after touchdowns were traded between the teams. The Knights then pushed their lead back to 7 points when Gammons connected with Chambers alone in the end zone for a 25-18 lead.

The Eagles retaliated with time running out in the game as Remar tossed a pass over the middle and found Eagles captain H.T. Bennett to cut the Knights’ lead back to 1 point, at 25-24. The Eagles needed the extra point to tie the game during the conversion play. Todd May came away with the ball and the game was tied, 25-25.

With five untimed plays until a possible overtime, Gammons moved the Knights inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line. On the last play of the game, Gammons ran the ball in from the 2-yard line for the decisive touchdown.

The Knights’ captain Shon Anderson was pleased with their teamwork throughout the season and their offensive talent.

“We all knew and trusted each other’s skill level that we could score anytime we wanted to,” he said. “… Our quarterback, Curtis [Gammons], without him we probably would not have had our offense running as smooth as it ran. A lot of people came through and made big plays.”

The Knights completed the season with a 9-2 record, while the Eagles finished at 8-3.

Pecs IM beat Hamburger Mary’s 10-4 but lost to Baja Betty’s Bang 12-11 during the last two Open B Division games of the America’s Finest City Softball League’s season on July 8.

Because Pecs and Baja Betty’s finished the regular season with identical 14-6 records, Pecs earned first place due to a run differential of 38 to 34 runs.

Fit 2B Tyed was the only team in the women’s A Division, finishing with a 9-8 record. House of Hair led the way in the women’s B Division, finishing the spring season with a 15-3 record. Powerhouse 2 captured the women’s C Division with a 16-2 record, while Earth Tones won the D Division with a 10-8 record.

Pecs also finished the fall season atop the Open B Division with an 11-2 record, beating Urban Mo’s 6-3 during the final game of AFCSL Fall Ball action on Oct. 29. The Diegans came in second with an 8-5 record, while Urban Mo’s was third at 7-5-1.

In the Open C Division, Lumberjacks, Flicks and Shameless all finished with 9-5-1 records.

During a sizzling afternoon, Scott Crabtree won the San Diego Open for the second time with a solid 7-5, 6-4 win over prior SDO champion and top-seed Vince Riveroll in the Open Division final on July 3.

The San Diego Tennis Federation (SDTF) hosted more than 200 players in its 21st annual tournament, which was held over the Fourth of July weekend. Players competed in singles and doubles within five categories of play.

SDTF players dominated most draws, winning titles in seven different divisions: Open singles and doubles, A doubles, B singles, C doubles and D singles and doubles.