Palm Harbor's Ashly Galante was the youngest in a record field of 242 players at the USA Bowling National Amateur Championships in Las Vegas.
To say Galante, 15, bowled miserably would be untrue. More like it, she was miserable while bowling.
"I got really sick the minute I stepped off the plane, and I didn't get well until I got home five days later," Galante said.
"Ashly was very sick that first night, and I scrambled to find the right medicine for her," said her father, Rick. "She had a fever and chest congestion, and I was thinking we'd be going to the hospital instead of the bowling center. I wasn't sure she could even walk, much less bowl."
Galante, a Tarpon Springs High School freshman, did compete, shooting a 712 scratch series to win the pre-tournament sweeper against 150 bowlers.
"I just told myself to get out there and do my best, but it wasn't fun," Galante said.
Still fighting the bug, Galante was 90th after the first qualifying round, moved to 70th and finished 57th, missing the final match-play. She carried a 205 average into the tournament, rolling a 15-pound ball over the Sports Shot, a condition more difficult than the normal house shot.
"I learned a lot, and it showed me what I have to work toward," Galante said.
Galante was a Tarpon Springs junior varsity competitor in the Pinellas County High School League last season.
"Not enough girls tried out to make up a varsity team, so I bowled on the jayvees," she said.
Galante finished with a 206 average, moved on to youth competition at AMF Clearwater and Countryside lanes and won several state events.
Pinellas Park's Bob Smolka placed 27th in the amateur championships, three spots from making the cut to the final 24. He averaged 204 in 24 games. Tampa's Lucy Sandelin, a perennial Team USA member, also did not make the cut. Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix and Richard Fairley Jr., Lynchburg, Va., captured the titles.
