onefrombills
07-20-2009, 02:36 AM
INDIANAPOLIS- The members of TurboVision of Miami had quite a day at the USBC Youth Open Championships, sponsored by Pepsi, as they moved into first place in Division 1 Team and saw the boys all-events lead come down to the final frame between three of the team members.
With all four of its bowlers boasting previous Junior Team USA experience, TurboVision, turned to that training and experience and flew to the top of the leaderboard with games of 815, 902 and 945 for a 2,662 team total. Sockk Rockkers of Allen, Texas, previously held the lead with 2,476.
Brent Bowers led the way for TurboVision despite a 173 start. He added games of 280 and 279 for a 732 series and was followed by Andrew Koff (719), Jake Peters (697) and Sarah Germano (514).
After struggling at Expo Bowl during the USBC Junior Gold Championships last week, Bowers credits an unlikely source in helping him succeed in his return to the center.
"I had jitters coming back to this house after Junior Gold, and it showed the first game since I missed four makeable spares," said Bowers, who was awarded the 2009 David Dahms Sportsmanship award at the Junior Gold Championships. "My coach at Wichita State has always said that positive energy makes everything better. I ended up talking to, and cheering on, a little kid a pair over who I had never met before, and it turned everything around. I feel like I owe my series to him."
With both Koff and Peters joining Bowers on Junior Team USA in 2009, they felt their experience together helped them to take over the lead.
"I've bowled on teams with Jake and Brent before, so we know how to communicate well," said Koff, who finished second at the recent Junior Gold Championships. "We stayed together with our moves. Plus, we made a lot of good shots."
With the score in the books, Bowers reflected on the possibility of winning a title.
"This is great because I feel like I earned some redemption after Junior Gold," Bowers said. "It's a great feeling to be ahead now. I'm very proud of our performance."
As the day progressed to the doubles and singles events, the race for the all-events lead became tighter as they neared the finished line.
Bowers and Peters moved into second place in doubles with a 1,368 series, with Bowers posting a 708 series and Peters adding 660. Koff and Germano, who was a member of the Junior Team USA in 2008, combined for a 1,318 doubles total and moved into seventh place. Koff shot 708, and Germano rolled a 610 set.
After two games of singles, Koff found himself slightly ahead of his teammates in the all-events race. He was ahead of Peters by four pins and Bowers by 11.
Koff fired a 240 game for a 654 series and 2,081 all-events total, while Peters finished with a 696 series and 2,053 for all-events. Bowers posted a 607 singles series for a 2,047 all-events total. The three now find themselves sitting in first, second and third place for in all-events.
"It's a good feeling to be leading right now," Koff said. "We knew we were close going into the final game for all-events, but it was a friendly competition between us. We were wishing the best for each other and still joking around, so we were all loose."
With much of the attention on Koff and his teammates Sunday afternoon, Christian Jensen and Kevin Tatrow of Wichita, Kan., also found success on the tournament lanes and combined for a 1,435 doubles total to move them into the lead in Division 1 Doubles.
Coming out of the gates strong and never looking back, Jensen put together games of 243, 222 and 266 for a 731 series, while Tatrow rolled games of 225, 279 and 200 for 704. Brent Himmelreich and Garrett Johnson of Lebanon, Pa., previously held the lead with 1,350.
"We are pretty good friends back home, so there was good chemistry," Tatrow said. "It was like being back at home."
Both credited their familiarity with each other on the lanes as one of the big keys to their success.
"We know how to read each other's ball reactions," Jensen said. "There was great team play, and we just kept talking to each other. We stayed ahead of the moves and continued to be aggressive."
Jensen, 21, bowled a 595 series in team and 570 in singles for an 1,896 all-events score. Tatrow, 19, added 591 in team and 531 in singles for 1,826.
"It was a fun tournament," Tatrow said. "I wish we had done better in the other events, but its great walking out leading. We knew if we took it one shot at a time and made our best shots, we could end up on top."
The Youth Open Championships, which runs through July 25, is broken into four average divisions (129 and below, 130-159, 160-189 and 190 and above) and is based on actual pinfall. Teams consist of four players.
With all four of its bowlers boasting previous Junior Team USA experience, TurboVision, turned to that training and experience and flew to the top of the leaderboard with games of 815, 902 and 945 for a 2,662 team total. Sockk Rockkers of Allen, Texas, previously held the lead with 2,476.
Brent Bowers led the way for TurboVision despite a 173 start. He added games of 280 and 279 for a 732 series and was followed by Andrew Koff (719), Jake Peters (697) and Sarah Germano (514).
After struggling at Expo Bowl during the USBC Junior Gold Championships last week, Bowers credits an unlikely source in helping him succeed in his return to the center.
"I had jitters coming back to this house after Junior Gold, and it showed the first game since I missed four makeable spares," said Bowers, who was awarded the 2009 David Dahms Sportsmanship award at the Junior Gold Championships. "My coach at Wichita State has always said that positive energy makes everything better. I ended up talking to, and cheering on, a little kid a pair over who I had never met before, and it turned everything around. I feel like I owe my series to him."
With both Koff and Peters joining Bowers on Junior Team USA in 2009, they felt their experience together helped them to take over the lead.
"I've bowled on teams with Jake and Brent before, so we know how to communicate well," said Koff, who finished second at the recent Junior Gold Championships. "We stayed together with our moves. Plus, we made a lot of good shots."
With the score in the books, Bowers reflected on the possibility of winning a title.
"This is great because I feel like I earned some redemption after Junior Gold," Bowers said. "It's a great feeling to be ahead now. I'm very proud of our performance."
As the day progressed to the doubles and singles events, the race for the all-events lead became tighter as they neared the finished line.
Bowers and Peters moved into second place in doubles with a 1,368 series, with Bowers posting a 708 series and Peters adding 660. Koff and Germano, who was a member of the Junior Team USA in 2008, combined for a 1,318 doubles total and moved into seventh place. Koff shot 708, and Germano rolled a 610 set.
After two games of singles, Koff found himself slightly ahead of his teammates in the all-events race. He was ahead of Peters by four pins and Bowers by 11.
Koff fired a 240 game for a 654 series and 2,081 all-events total, while Peters finished with a 696 series and 2,053 for all-events. Bowers posted a 607 singles series for a 2,047 all-events total. The three now find themselves sitting in first, second and third place for in all-events.
"It's a good feeling to be leading right now," Koff said. "We knew we were close going into the final game for all-events, but it was a friendly competition between us. We were wishing the best for each other and still joking around, so we were all loose."
With much of the attention on Koff and his teammates Sunday afternoon, Christian Jensen and Kevin Tatrow of Wichita, Kan., also found success on the tournament lanes and combined for a 1,435 doubles total to move them into the lead in Division 1 Doubles.
Coming out of the gates strong and never looking back, Jensen put together games of 243, 222 and 266 for a 731 series, while Tatrow rolled games of 225, 279 and 200 for 704. Brent Himmelreich and Garrett Johnson of Lebanon, Pa., previously held the lead with 1,350.
"We are pretty good friends back home, so there was good chemistry," Tatrow said. "It was like being back at home."
Both credited their familiarity with each other on the lanes as one of the big keys to their success.
"We know how to read each other's ball reactions," Jensen said. "There was great team play, and we just kept talking to each other. We stayed ahead of the moves and continued to be aggressive."
Jensen, 21, bowled a 595 series in team and 570 in singles for an 1,896 all-events score. Tatrow, 19, added 591 in team and 531 in singles for 1,826.
"It was a fun tournament," Tatrow said. "I wish we had done better in the other events, but its great walking out leading. We knew if we took it one shot at a time and made our best shots, we could end up on top."
The Youth Open Championships, which runs through July 25, is broken into four average divisions (129 and below, 130-159, 160-189 and 190 and above) and is based on actual pinfall. Teams consist of four players.