Ellie Griffith at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament. Photo by Dylan Goodwin.

ONE STEP BACK, TWO FORWARD

A loss to #1 seed Wanda Jackson in the last round of block play dropped Ellie Griffith into the wildcard round for the Gold Division at the MCA 2018 opener in Lee's Summit, Missouri on May 5, 2018. But that loss didn't turn out to be so bad as she rolled through the bracket and on to her first MCA tournament title.

That title came courtesy of a 21-7 payback win against Jackson in the final. It also meant Griffith racked up a high-flying 96 points in six games. Winning the tournament was helpful enough, but the extra game helped her push out to a 26-point lead in the Gold Nine Wicket Series race as Brevin Millican is nearest player in range at 70 points. However, it is a tight group fighting for that second place slot as Jackson is on 69 points and Justin Marciniak is at 65 points. Looks like it could be another entertaining year in Gold Division play.

2018 MCA 9WS GOLD DIVISION STANDINGS