Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla. and Stefanie Nation of Arlington, Tex. finished on top of the pack after two seven-game blocks at the Cheetah Championship, the seventh stop on the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, taking place at AMF Thruway Lanes.

The Cheetah pattern proved to be fruitful for left-handed bowlers like Allen; six of eight lefties in the field made the cut to 32.

“A lot of lefties bowled well today, we’re all playing the same part of the lane” said Allen, “but there are certainly weeks where the pattern isn’t as good to us.”

Allen, who has 10 total PBA Tour titles including nine standard titles and one Major, finished the 14 games with a 234.93 average, 29 pins ahead of Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa.

Buffalo-area bowlers Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, N.Y. and Joe Ciccone of Buffalo also advanced to the Round of 32.

In the Women’s Series Cheetah Championship, Nation finished the day with a 220.5 average over 14 games. She was the clear leader heading into the final games Thursday night over PBA Women’s Series veteran Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of N. Richland Hills, Tex., who finished second with an average of 211.64.

“I’m always trying my hardest, even if I have a comfortable lead,” said Nation, who won the first Women’s Series event of the 2008-09 season at the Pepsi Viper Championship in Omaha, Neb. “I played outside the lane pretty much the whole day. I just paid attention to where people were scoring.”

Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who on Thursday became the first woman in PBA history to qualify for a men’s tournament while a Women’s Series event was running concurrently, failed to advance to the Round of 32. She finished 46th overall with a 206.14 average.

Cheetah Championship Format:
The field of 64 players bowled two, 7-game qualifying rounds for a total of 14 games on Thursday, Dec. 4 after which the top 32 players advanced to match play. Bowlers making the cut return on Friday morning, Dec. 5 for the first nine games of an 18 game round robin match play schedule. The field will then be cut to the top 16 players who will return on Friday evening for the second round of match play competition. At the conclusion of match play, the top four finalists will advance to stepladder competition, i.e. No. 4 vs. No. 3, winner vs. No. 2, winner vs. No. 1 in championship match, aired live on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. ET.
PBA Women’s Series Format
The Cheetah Championship also hosts the PBA Women’s Series, sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress. It is the fourth stop on the PBA Women’s Series schedule. The field of 16 players bowled two, 7-game qualifying rounds for a total of 14 games on Thursday, Dec. 4 in which the top 10 players advanced to match play. Bowlers making the cut return on Friday evening, Dec. 5 for nine games of round robin match play competition. At the conclusion of match play, the top two finalists will compete in the championship match on Sunday, Dec. 7, aired live on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET.