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Erica Goyette tried soccer, but that blew out her knee.
She already was into bowling, so "I decided to stick with that; less bodily harm," said the 16-year-old right-hander from Pinellas Park.
It paid off.
Goyette's Cincinnati Fairfield High team finished 14-0 in league play and was second in the Ohio state championships last year. With a 205 average and a high game-series of 279-636, Goyette was selected the state's second-best female prep bowler.
Goyette and her parents, Cynthia and Ralph, moved from Cincinnati in January.
Last week at Sunshine Bowl, Goyette took her game to a higher level. She rolled her first 300 and first 700 series in the Young American Bowling Alliance's Saturday morning competition.
"Nearly every ball went into the pocket, and my game was really on," Goyette said.
She is averaging 192 with a 15-pound ball.
Goyette is the first girl in Greater Pinellas YABA Association history to enjoy a perfect performance and the second youngest in the county to accomplish the feat. New Port Richey's Jamie Potter, 14, fired a 300 in the Florida state high school championships at Seminole Lanes two years ago. St. Petersburg's Tony Russo was 12 when he posted his first perfect game, becoming the county's youngest boy to do so. Goyette, a junior at Dixie Hollins High this fall, will try out for the Pinellas County High School League.
EXPO: Many area proprietors and management crews are in Las Vegas this week for the annual Bowl Expo 2003, the largest such trade show in the industry.
The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino plays host to the event that is sponsored by dozens of manufacturers and organizations.
The industry services more than 55-million bowlers annually in the United States alone and more than 100-million worldwide.
With 5,000-plus attendees and 300 exhibiting companies, the expo is the premier industry event of the year.
Thousands of proprietors from the U.S. and 40 countries are in attendance, representing large and small centers as well as corporate chains.
All five branches of the U.S. military are represented and authorized to purchase and contract for the nearly 500 military centers worldwide.
The organizations and companies include the Bowling Proprietors Association of America, European Bowling Proprietors Association, Brunswick, AMF, Qubica, the Professional Bowlers Association and Professional Women's Bowling Association.PREP MEETING: Coaches, administrators and sponsors of the Pinellas County High School League will meet 4:30 p.m. July 17 at Seminole Lanes to set up next season's schedule.
League bylaws and the format will be discussed.
Last season, the league's 30th, the Baker System format was introduced with much controversy.
Baker sees each bowler of a five-member team roll two frames per game, total pins determining the outcome.
Players from the record 49 squads had two regular games and one Baker, eliminating the possibility of the traditional three-game high series and individual averages.
The season starts in August and ends with the Florida state tournament in December.
The Florida High School Activities Association has recognized prep bowling as a varsity sport, but Pinellas County athletic directors and principals tabled a motion in May to accept. SUNSHINE STATE GAMES: Kimberly Roe of New Smyrna Beach logged an 814 handicap series to top competitors in the 24th annual Games' bowling event in Tampa.
Roe, 16, in the division for players with a 176 average and above, fired games of 267, 263 and 221 with a 63-pin handicap. Tampa bowlers claimed three of the six division titles.
St. Petersburg's Marissa Henrikson rolled a 641 series to finish seventh in the 135-159 class. Andrew Owens of Palm Harbor recorded a 704 series for fourth place. Josh Guinand, Palm Harbor, shot 646 for eighth in the 176-above division.
AROUND THE LANES: High scorers - A.J. Riske, 300 at Liberty; Tim Seward, 300-725 at Dunedin; and Joe Bereczki, 300-667, and Richard Williams, 300, at Seminole. ... Chris Samuels fired a 290 game at Liberty, where Rich Dornan, Walt Yasenski and Paul Micalef won the Saturday trio tournament and $1,000.
- Phil Gulick can be reached at xerxes8@msn.com