Local pickleball competitors strong at events

September was littered with pickleball tournaments around the area for local enthusiasts. The Yellowstone Pickleball Association hosted a round robin event in Cody on Saturday, Sept. 6. Local participants fared well at the tournament with Jackson Sanders winning the top spot in the beginners division and CJ Pickett earning the title by one point in the intermediate bracket.

A week later, Pickett teamed up with Joshua Sanders, Rebecca Lester of Cody and Theresa Miller of Powell (team name Yellowstone Picklers) in the MLP Team Tournament in Casper on September 13. Teams of four competed in a best of five-game series with a rotation of games between the men, women and mixed doubles. The Yellowstone Picklers placed third overall.

The Billings Pickleball Association hosted the BPA Fall Brawl on September 27 and 28. Pickett and Sanders won the gold medal in the 3.5 - 4.0 division. The team was 4-2 in round robin play, which seeded them third in the tournament. The pair lost the first game 11-5 in the championship match but won the next two, 11-4 and 11-9 in the best-of-three series.

Pickett teamed up with Lester to win the gold in the mixed doubles. The duo came back from a 1-0 deficit in all of their tournament games.