The Portland Area League (PAL) completed its fifth round on December 12th and will be taking a break until January 9th. This is the first time that the PAL has taken a three week break in their season – but the schools in the Portland Area chose different weeks for their Winter Breaks, so the league will resume once everyone is back in session. More detailed information about the current results can be found after the break!
League Organizer Ed Addis reports that when the league picks up again, the Cardinals of Lincoln High School will be the team to beat. So far, Lincoln has dominated its opponents, winning every match – and nearly every game (with only 4 draws and 3 losses in their 25 head-to-head games). The top Lincoln team is headed by Freshman Clemen Deng and Sophomore Philip Weiss; third board is held by Junior Andy Trattner with Seniors Jordan Edelson and Luke Meyer on boards four and five, respectively.
Second place is a logjam with five teams tied with three match victories. Lake Oswego, led by Freshman Pranav Sharan, currently holds the tie-breaker with 18 game points. The Trojans of Wilson High School are not far behind with 16 game points, led by 6th grader Seth Talyansky of the Portland Jewish School (who lives in the Wilson attendance area). The Falcons of LaSalle Prep are next with 15.5 game points; Dmitri Murphy of Riverdale High School (who has been grandfathered into LaSalle) holds down the first board. West Sylvan Middle School has 14 game points, and is led by Dillon Murray of Gresham High School (he was added to this team as he registered without a team). Rounding out this logjam is Jesuit High School with 12.5 game points, led by Freshman Rory Soiffer.
Last year’s League Champion Clackamas Cavaliers are in seventh place with 2 match victories. Cleveland High School and Access Academy each have one match victory. Westview High School withdrew after dropping its first three matches; Grant High School will be fielding a team in their place.
Like their upper division classmates, the second division Lincoln Cardinals have also been dominating, with 5 match victories and 19 game points. Clackamas #2 is second with 4 match wins. LaSalle Prep #2 is tied for third with Lake Oswego #2 with 3.5 match wins with LaSalle having the edge in game points by 17.5 to 14.5. Fifth place is shared by Jesuit #2 and Access Academy #2 with 2.5 match victories. Seventh place also has two teams tied with 1.5 match wins with Wilson #2 having more game points than LaSalle #3. LaSalle #4 is in 9th with a match win over 10th place Access Academy #3.
The League also recognizes outstanding performance by individual players. The following players have been perfect, winning all 5 matches played to date: Clemen Deng, Philip Weiss and Dylan Huard of Lincoln; Daniel Seitz and Lyman Shen of Lake Oswego. Nathan Jewell of Robert Gray Middle School playing for Wilson (Robert Gray feeds to Wilson) has been nearly perfect with 4 wins and a draw in his five encounters.
The League will begin play again on Wednesday, January 9, 2013, at 4 PM in the cafeteria of Lincoln High School. In addition to the League Matches that will be played we also offer an “extra game” section to any student in grades 6 to 12. You must sign up for this section on the sign-up sheet by 4PM. This section is rated and plays under the same conditions as the League – G/60 with a 5 second delay. Sixth graders and older are welcome to come join the fun!
