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View Full Version : Defending champs travel long road to USBC Junior Gold Championships



onefrombills
07-13-2009, 09:19 PM
Most of the competitors for the 2009 USBC Junior Gold Championships have made their way to Indianapolis for the event, which begins Monday. The journey for the defending champions has been a little longer.

By winning Junior Gold titles last year in Detroit, Geoffrey Young and Kristie Petravich also earned spots on 2009 Junior Team USA. During the last week they were busy competing in the 2009 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships.

The PABCON event, which was held in Bogota, Colombia, completed play on Saturday with Petravich beating Junior Team USA teammate Christine Bator to take the gold in Masters. Young, of Denton, Texas, earned a bronze medal in Masters after falling to Junior Team USA member Daniel Spink of St. Louis, Mo., in the semifinals.

The Junior Team USA members went from Bogota directly to Indianapolis for the Junior Gold Championships. Young said before the PABCON tournament the schedule might be a little crazy but he did not expect any problems.

"I am sort of used to this schedule because of bowling different tournaments around the United States," Young said. "So I have had time to get used to these types of schedules and actually like having a lot to do."

Petravich, of West Palm Beach, Fla., also hoped the schedule wouldn't be too difficult since she is on the 1 p.m. squad Monday for Junior Gold.

"The long plane rides might be a little rough," Petravich said before the trip. "I don't think that will play an issue on anything except for the practice sessions but in Colombia we are doing the same thing, practicing on sport shots."

The Junior Gold competition begins with the qualifying round, which will require bowlers to bowl six games per day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. At the end of those 18 games, the top 150 males and 78 females will advance to the semifinals. Semifinal competition will take place Thursday, consisting of two six-game blocks. The top 16 males and top 16 females will earn spots in the match-play finals, which will take place Friday, July 17.

Petravich said winning last year's Junior Gold Championships "was the hardest tournament I have bowled and it was a very long and enduring process. It takes consistency and mental preparation to possibly win Junior Gold, and also a little bit of luck because some things just have to fall in your favor."

Young agreed, adding he was shocked to be the top seed heading into the finals last year because his focus was on making Junior Team USA again.

Competitors at the Junior Gold Championships also compete for spots on Junior Team USA. This year the top four male and top four female finishers after match-play competition at the Junior Gold Championships will automatically qualify for Junior Team USA 2010. The National Selection Committee (NSC) will award four at-large spots - two male, two female - from the pool of athletes that make the match-play finals.

Young knows the key for him to again earn a spot on Junior Team USA will be to stay calm and simply bowl.

"There are so many bowlers at this tournament that are new and are still learning how to bowl on a sport shot, so I just try to find the best place to play the lanes where I feel like I have a little area to play with and make moves off of that," Young said. "Mainly, just staying calm helps me out the most because there are a lot of games to bowl and you can always jump right back in it."