onefrombills
09-26-2008, 04:38 AM
By Lucas Wiseman
USBC Communications
PABCON Youth Championships page
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - The Junior Team USA boys and girls continued their dominating performance at the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships on Thursday, sweeping the gold medals in team and all-events.
Both teams won by triple-digit margins as the boys took home the gold with a six-game total of 5,305, good enough for a 167-pin victory, while the girls totaled 4,872, which won by 245 pins.
The United States also won the gold and silver medals in boys and girls all-events. Geoffrey Young of Denton, Texas, and Josie Earnest of Vandalia, Ill., both took the lead in the opening event and never looked back. Daniel Spink of Florissant, Mo., earned the boys silver, while Christine Bator of Warren, Mich., took girls silver.
In the boys team event, Junior Team USA overcame a nearly 200-pin deficit to Venezuela after three games and surged to the title. Spink led the foursome with 1,468, Young had 1,309, Brent Bowers of Mulvane, Kan., shot 1,276 and John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, N.Y., added 1,252.
"I think we just came out and pressed for it," said Spink, who kept Junior Team USA close with a 759 series for the first three games. "We pushed ourselves until we were rewarded with the gold medal. This is the event I thought we could come out ahead because when you look at our lineup, this team is stacked from top to bottom."
As the team event rolled on, the Junior Team USA girls were never really challenged. They moved out to a 38-pin lead after three games and pulled away from there. Earnest led the team with 1,270, Bator was next with 1,252, Kristie Petravich of West Palm Beach, Fla., shot 1,229 and Jenny Brown of DeLand, Fla., totaled 1,121.
"It's an amazing feeling and there are so many thoughts going through my head I don't even know where to start," Bator said. "We have amazing communication and our ability to communicate with each other and our coaches was the biggest factor in us being successful. When you are up on the approach and you have your whole team behind you cheering you on, just hearing that they care as much about your country as you do, it makes it even more special."
Rounding out the team event medalists in boys was Venezuela, which took silver with 5,138, and Mexico, which claimed bronze with 4,938. On the girls side, Colombia took silver with 4,637, while Mexico won bronze with 4,575.
Young easily claimed the gold in boys all-events with 5,424, while Spink's big total in team vaulted him to second with 5,235. Alberto Lizano of Costa Rica earned the bronze with 5,192, striking on his first shot in the final frame of the last game to edge Szczerbinski, who finished fourth with 5,173. Bowers was fifth with 5,130.
Earnest won the girls all-events with a 5,138 total, topping Bator by 138 pins. Maria Jose Rodriguez of Venezuela took the bronze with 4,884. Petravich finished fourth with 4,760, and Brown was eighth at 4,698.
The top 16 boys and top 16 girls in the all-events standings advanced to Masters play on Friday. The opening round and quarterfinals will feature three-game matches with the winner determined by the highest pinfall. The semifinals and finals will be best two games out of three matches.
USBC Communications
PABCON Youth Championships page
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - The Junior Team USA boys and girls continued their dominating performance at the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships on Thursday, sweeping the gold medals in team and all-events.
Both teams won by triple-digit margins as the boys took home the gold with a six-game total of 5,305, good enough for a 167-pin victory, while the girls totaled 4,872, which won by 245 pins.
The United States also won the gold and silver medals in boys and girls all-events. Geoffrey Young of Denton, Texas, and Josie Earnest of Vandalia, Ill., both took the lead in the opening event and never looked back. Daniel Spink of Florissant, Mo., earned the boys silver, while Christine Bator of Warren, Mich., took girls silver.
In the boys team event, Junior Team USA overcame a nearly 200-pin deficit to Venezuela after three games and surged to the title. Spink led the foursome with 1,468, Young had 1,309, Brent Bowers of Mulvane, Kan., shot 1,276 and John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, N.Y., added 1,252.
"I think we just came out and pressed for it," said Spink, who kept Junior Team USA close with a 759 series for the first three games. "We pushed ourselves until we were rewarded with the gold medal. This is the event I thought we could come out ahead because when you look at our lineup, this team is stacked from top to bottom."
As the team event rolled on, the Junior Team USA girls were never really challenged. They moved out to a 38-pin lead after three games and pulled away from there. Earnest led the team with 1,270, Bator was next with 1,252, Kristie Petravich of West Palm Beach, Fla., shot 1,229 and Jenny Brown of DeLand, Fla., totaled 1,121.
"It's an amazing feeling and there are so many thoughts going through my head I don't even know where to start," Bator said. "We have amazing communication and our ability to communicate with each other and our coaches was the biggest factor in us being successful. When you are up on the approach and you have your whole team behind you cheering you on, just hearing that they care as much about your country as you do, it makes it even more special."
Rounding out the team event medalists in boys was Venezuela, which took silver with 5,138, and Mexico, which claimed bronze with 4,938. On the girls side, Colombia took silver with 4,637, while Mexico won bronze with 4,575.
Young easily claimed the gold in boys all-events with 5,424, while Spink's big total in team vaulted him to second with 5,235. Alberto Lizano of Costa Rica earned the bronze with 5,192, striking on his first shot in the final frame of the last game to edge Szczerbinski, who finished fourth with 5,173. Bowers was fifth with 5,130.
Earnest won the girls all-events with a 5,138 total, topping Bator by 138 pins. Maria Jose Rodriguez of Venezuela took the bronze with 4,884. Petravich finished fourth with 4,760, and Brown was eighth at 4,698.
The top 16 boys and top 16 girls in the all-events standings advanced to Masters play on Friday. The opening round and quarterfinals will feature three-game matches with the winner determined by the highest pinfall. The semifinals and finals will be best two games out of three matches.