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View Full Version : Oklahoman Johnson takes Senior Queens lead



onefrombills
04-26-2009, 07:55 PM
RENO, Nev. - Defending champion Sandy Postma of Lansing, Ill., was the scoring leader halfway through the second qualifying round in the 2009 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens on Sunday, but the score that mattered most belonged to perennial hopeful Lil Johnson of Lawton, Okla.

Postma is automatically seeded into the 32-woman match play finals, so her qualifying score doesn't count, but she elected to bowl the 15 qualifying games as a pacer just to get acquainted with the scoring environment at the National Bowling Stadium in preparation for match play.

"I'm trying to figure out how to score best," she said after posting a 10-game total of 2,079 pins, 40 better than Johnson. "I want to find out which balls work best, what line to play, that sort of thing. My score may not matter as far as the standings are concerned, but it matters to me."

Postma, the only woman to win the regular USBC Queens and the Senior Queens - the latter of which she has won three times - said the first time she defended one of her Queens titles, the rules didn't allow her to pace with the field "and I bowled terrible in match play. I wasn't about to let that happen again."

While Postma's berth in match play is guaranteed, Johnson's isn't and nothing would make her happier than having a shot at the first important title in her career.

"I'm a late bloomer," the 57-year-old Johnson said. "When I bowled on the ladies' tour for five years, I was so worried about bowling ball layouts, ball surfaces, reading lanes, the double-jump lane courtesy rule - all of that stuff - that I never had much success. It wasn't until I quit the tour that it all sunk in. Now the game makes sense to me."

While most of the qualifying field struggled through the second round - including first-round leader Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Fla., who slipped into second place - Johnson rolled consecutive games of 236, 231 and 255 to virtually assure herself a spot in match play pending Monday's final qualifying round.

"I tried a ball I thought would get through the heads, but still finish hard," she said. "I changed my hand position, and it all worked."

Johnson has never won a national title, but she also has never given up on that dream.

"It's never too late," she grinned. "You always play to the last frame of the last game. A win here would truly be the icing on the cake for me. It would be the payoff for all of the hard work I've done, for all the times I practiced until my hand was bleeding. We'll see what happens."

Sandelin, after setting a Senior Queens five-game record in the opening round, finished with 2,030 pins, nine behind Johnson.

"I couldn't match up with the conditions," she said. "Everything was under- or over-reaction. I'm glad I had a bit of a cushion. I'm glad the day is over."

The 10th USBC Senior Queens, open to women bowlers ages 50 and older, drew a field of 140 players. After the final two squads complete their second round Sunday evening, the top 50 will advance to a third five-game qualifying round Monday morning. The top 31 will then join Postma in the match play finals Monday evening and Tuesday.