Nationality American Highest world ranking 4th Residence Salt Lake City Name Kristen Bellows | Sport Racquetball Turned pro 2001 College team University of Utah | |
Born May 5, 1982 (age 41) ( 1982-05-05 ) | ||
Kristen Walsh Bellows (born Kristen Walsh, May 5, 1982) is a retired American racquetball player. Wachtel's highest women's professional ranking was 4th, and she represented the USA on four occasions winning Women's Singles at the 2005 Pan American Championships. She was a three-time collegiate champion, and a four-time World Junior champion.
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Professional
Walsh Bellows was a top 10 player on the women's pro tour in 9 seasons, and was 4th at the end of the 2005-06 and 2008-09 seasons. Walsh Bellows's only pro tournament victory came in May 2009, when she won the Ektelon WPRO World Championships in Stockton, California defeating Paola Longoria in the final, 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7. Walsh Bellows was seeded 5th in Stockton, so to get to that final, Walsh Bellows defeated 4th seed Kerri Wachtel in the quarterfinals, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8, and 1st seed Rhonda Rajsich in the semi-finals, to meet 2nd Longoria in the final.
International
Walsh Bellows won the 2005 Pan American Championships, defeating Cheryl Gudinas in the final, 15-8, 8-15, 11-8. She had a chance to defend that title in 2006, but lost in the final to Paola Longoria, 15-4, 15-6.
Walsh Bellows played for the USA in the Pan American Championship four consecutive years from 2004 to 2007. She played both singles and doubles in both 2004, earning a bronze medal in doubles with Kersten Hallander, and 2005, getting a silver medal in doubles with Gudinas to go with the gold medal in singles. In 2006 and 2007, Walsh Bellows played singles only.
Junior and collegiate
Walsh Bellows won the Girls 18 and under Junior World Championship twice, in 2000 and 2001, and also won Girls 16 and under in 1999, and Girls 14 and under in 1996. Bellows won four World Juniors doubles titles. Two were with Krystal Csuk: the 18 and under title in 2000, and 16 and under in 1998, and two with Jeni Fuller: the 14 and under title in 1996 and 12 and under in 1995.
She won the USA Girls 18 and under champion in 2000 and 2001, and was the USA Racquetball's Female Junior Athlete of the Year in 2000. Walsh Bellows also won the USA Girls 16 and under title in 1999, and the 12 and under title in 1995.
Walsh Bellows won the USAR Collegiate Championship three times, in 2001 for Baldwin-Wallace College and in 2003 and 2004 for the University of Utah. She was also the women's collegiate doubles champion in 2001 with Elle Summers and in 2004 with her mother Marianne Walsh, who had gone back to university at age 45. Her two titles in 2004 helped the University of Utah win the women's team title that year.