US Open 2014 Update #11 - SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Richard and Susan DeFelice Win Second Place In Masters Routines

A judging mistake which had put Richard and Susan DeFelice in last place — with a Violation for an illegal break-away — has now been rescinded and the correct Second Place score awarded to the couple.

The infraction had been presented to the Review Panel for discussion and a decision made to rule in favor of the couple rather than penalizing them with a Violation and its commensurate drop in placement.

Somewhere in the chain of events an error was made and the Violation was submitted to the scorekeeper.

The mistake was discovered by Chief Judge Yvonne Antonacci Sunday after Awards. She spoke immediately with Phil, and the decision was made to rectify the error as swiftly as possible by awarding the couple with a Second Place trophy, appropriate prize monies, and changing scoresheet results to reflect the corrected placements.

Then began a series of calls over the next 48 hours to contact everyone involved, public announcement withheld until parties had been reached and spoken with privately. Richard and Susan DeFelice, members of the Review Panel, the Referee, Scorekeepers, Bob and Beverly Budzynski of the Masters Tour, and every Masters couple whose placement would be lowered as a result of the correction.

Yvonne says that every person involved has been understanding, but most especially the DeFelices who are a class act – gracious, kind, and completely appreciative of the efforts and difficulties of judging an event as large and prestigious as the US Open.

The corrected 2014 US Open Masters Routines Placements are as follows:

1ST PLACE Warren Pino and Jeanne DeGeyter

2nd    Richard DeFelice and Susan DeFelice

3rd    David Walkup and Trish Connery Walkup

4th    Wayne Rohr and Cynthia Rohr

5th    Fred Baron and Laura Moats

6th    Woody Bretz and Louise Bretz

7th    Jim Slusher and Tina Slusher

8th    Paul Stewart and Lois Petersen

9th    Lewis Neal and Leslie Mallory

10th   Bob Budzynski and Janet Bunch

11th   Martin Brown and Kristie Vian

12th   Charlie Hurley and Liz Roberts Hurley

13th   Peter White and Ginny Howe

14th   Bill Hopkins and Lorraine Rohlik

15th   Michael Booth and Cheyl Grampp