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More than any other year, perhaps, you could call 2006 "The Year of the Woman" in bowling.
Female stars have dominated most of the sport's headlines and racked up more historic accomplishments than men on national, state and local levels.
Consider this:
* Wendy MacPherson of Wichita, Kan., won the USBC Open singles title with an 816 series in Corpus Christi, Texas. This may be tough for male chauvinists to swallow but, yes, it means the national bowling champion is a woman.
MacPherson's series was the second 800 ever bowled by a woman at the USBC Open (the former ABC Tournament). Earlier in the championship, Kristal Scott, a former Team USA member from Wichita, bowled an 812 in the team competition, the first 800 series by a woman in the history of the tournament.
Scott broke the existing high series record for a woman in the tournament. That was the 789 bowled by Janette Piesczynski of Cheektowaga in February. Piesczynski bowled a 300 game in her series, the first perfect game ever by a woman in the tournament. Piesczynski ended up sixth in the tournament singles standings.
* In late May, Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., became the first woman to earn a Denny's PBA Tour exemption. She qualified via the PBA Tour Trials in Hammond, Ind. During the summer, Kulick won a PBA Regional at King Pin Lanes in Rome, becoming the second woman ever to capture a Regional title. Liz Johnson, of course, was the first in the summer of 2005 at the same lanes.
Johnson didn't have the historic breakthroughs in 2006 that she had last year, but she still had her share of accomplishments. After setting a USBC record by averaging 244 in the Spare Time Ladies Classic at Ideal Lanes in the 2004-05 season, she led all Greater Buffalo USBC women with a 226 overall average and was GBUSBC Bowler of the Year for the second year in a row and fifth time overall. Johnson finished 23rd in all-events at the USBC Open and was runner- up in the USBC Queens Tournament.
* On the New York State Tournament scene, Cindy Carroll of Tonawanda became the first to sweep all four scratch championships - - singles, doubles, all-events and team.
* Locally, women again stole the show. The Bowlers Choice team of Sue Jeziorski, Sue Nawojski, Michelle Sterner and Liz Johnson joined with Denny's PBA Tour pro Jack Jurek to win the GBUSBC Open scratch team title.
With all that in mind, what better time than now to present women's bowling on a national television stage?
The Women's Pro Tour has been gone for four years with no imminent return expected. However, women's bowling will be in the spotlight in a made-for-TV event, the USBC Women's Challenge. The competition will air on ESPN2 over five consecutive Monday nights beginning next Monday (Sept. 11) at 9:30 p.m. The use of human pinsetters rather than machines added to the uniqueness of the event.
Johnson joined 15 other national and international female bowling stars for the competition, which was held on a specially constructed single lane at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas.
Four bowlers competed on each of the first four shows with the four winners returning to bowl for the $25,000 first prize on the final week, slated for Oct. 9.
First-round matchups were: Colombian National champion Sara Vargas vs. two-time U.S. Amateur champion Lynda Barnes; 26-time PWBA titlist Leanne Barrette vs. Johnson, an 11-time winner; Diandra Asbaty vs. Team USA member Shannon O'Keefe of Rochester; Australian star Cara Honeychurch vs. Asbaty's sister and former Team USA member Kassy Golden; 20-time PWBA champion Carolyn Dorin-Ballard vs. Team Canada member Robin Orlikowski; Dorin-Ballard's sister Cathy Dorin- Lizzi vs. 2006 USBC Queens champion Shannon Pluhowsky; Kim Terrell vs. Kendra Gaines and Colombian national team member Clara Guerrero vs. Team USA's Stefanie Nation.
The USBC and Killer B's promoter Gary Beck, who created the event, have kept the results secret, but bowling web sites are reporting that Honeychurch, a left-hander and former PWBA Tour competitor, took the title. The lineup indicates that Johnson will appear on a bracket to be shown Monday.
"So many people still ask me if there's going to be a women's tour again, and that's a good thing because it means they still want to see us bowling on TV," said Gaines, a two-time PWBA champion.
"If this event is successful, everyone wins," said Asbaty, a USBC spokesperson. "It is simply a way to get the ball rolling in hopes of creating a successful professional bowlers tour for women."
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>Upcoming events
Some dates to keep in mind:
Sept. 18 -- Opening date for reservations to the USBC Women's Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
Sept. 19-24 -- Dydo Japan Cup, Tokyo. Brad Angelo of Lockport is one of the 16 pros invited.
Oct. 6-8 -- Third Annual Sam Repass Scratch Classic, Mount Morris.
Oct. 8 -- Teen Masters local qualifier at Thruway Lanes.
Oct. 21-22 and 28-29 -- New York State USBC Seniors Tournament, Glens Falls.
Oct. 22-29 -- USBC Masters, Wauwatosa, Wis.
Nov. 1 -- Entries open for the USBC Youth Open Championships to be held here next summer.
Nov. 7-12 -- Denny's PBA Tour stop at AMF Thruway Lanes.
e-mail: mnorthrop@buffnews.com
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