Sean Rash and Katie Lanehart led the field after the second day of qualifying Wednesday of the USA Bowling National Amateur Championships at Castaways Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Rash totaled 3,564 pins to lead four-time Team USA member Tony Manna Jr. by 29. Lanehart has 3,495 pins.
Pinellas Park's Robert Smolka was 27th and Palm Harbor's Ashly Galante 70th. Tampa's 10-time Team USA member, Lucy Sandelin, was 26th. Other area players were: Donald Oglesby of MacDill Air Force Base (102nd) and Ryan Flaherty of Tampa (130th).
Galante, a freshman at Tarpon Springs High, won the Monday sweeper for YABA players and had a 206 average entering the event.
Shannon Pluhowsky, seeking to become the first to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles, was sixth. Diandra Hyman Asbaty, the 2000 champion, was 13th.
The record field of 249 includes 12 players each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The tournament features the Sport Bowling shot, which is tougher than the usual house shot.
Team USA 2004 members will participate in events such as the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs World Tenpin Team Cup and AMF World Cup Dec. 4-11 in Singapore.
TOUR RESUMES: The PBA Tour opened the second half of its 20-stop schedule Wednesday with the Earl Anthony Classic in Tacoma, Wash. The finals are at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
Nine players have earned spots in the 2004-05 all-exempt field and have won tournaments this season: Robert Smith, Norm Duke, Brian Himmler, Jason Couch, Steve Jaros, Patrick Allen, Ryan Shafer, Mika Koivuniemi and Patrick Healey Jr.
Four are within reach of $1-million in career earnings. Dave D'Entremont, at $990,539, is $9,461 from becoming the 27th to reach it. Doug Kent needs $11,457, Steve Jaros $22,411 and Ryan Shafer $22,524.
Healey heads this year's money winners with $162,000 followed by Koivuniemi at $102,550 and Chris Barnes at $88,050.
OBITUARY: Jon Juneau, 33, a two-time Team USA member and the 1991 U.S. Amateur champion, died Dec. 25 in Baton Rouge, La., after a long illness. Mr. Juneau earned his first spot on Team USA with a fifth-place finish in the 1989 USA Bowling National Amateur Championships. The next year, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship.
In 1991, he became the first American in seven years to win the AMF World Cup. He added gold and bronze medals at the Pan Am Games in Havana. He also competed in the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs world championship. He won two PBA region titles and was named the top amateur by ESPN in 1992.
He also won three gold, two silver and four bronze medals in the U.S. Olympic Festival from 1989-91. A member of the Baton Rouge Bowling Association Hall of Fame, he is survived by his daughter, Summer.
QUAD CITIES CHOSEN: The Quad Cities of Moline and Rock Island, Ill., and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, will host College Bowling USA's 2005 and 2006 Intercollegiate Bowling Championships.
This year's IBC is April 14-18 at Tulsa, Okla.
The IBC is the climax of the college season. The top 16 men's and women's teams square off in a double-elimination, Baker-style format. Teams are selected based on season records and section qualifiers.
