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County fares well in Junior Golds

By ERIC MUSKATEVC
Published July 16, 2006

While most bowling youths had last Tuesday circled on their calendars like Christmas, Josh Guinand, Crystal Stutler and a few others had that following Thursday not only surrounded by highlighter, but by hopes and promise.

As No. 1s for their respective collegiate clubs, Guinand, a fall-session senior at Florida State, and Stutler, a graduating senior at South Florida, are by no means children of bowling. They are veterans, the next wave of been-there, done-that youth bowlers who will take over the sport in the years to come. They have thrown goldenly for everything up to the Junior Golds.

Both totaled more than 3,000 pins Tuesday and Wednesday for the opening qualifying rounds of the U.S. Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships, played at three centers in Fort Lauderdale. Both had made the cut before.

Last year, Guinand, a Palm Harbor U. grad and former Pinellas County High School League champion, finished his first two rounds in the top 30, close to the same spot he landed in this year - 41st out of more than 900 boys with 3,589 pins after 18 games. Stutler, from Clearwater High, stood within breathing distance of the front with help from a 235 Wednesday night in Game No. 18. She totaled 3,514 pins in seventh place out of nearly 500 girls.

Both easily made the first cut, along with other area reps Ashly Galante (Palm Harbor) and Jillian Pavlak (Tarpon) in the girls division, and Anthony Frato Jr. and Jason Mersch (both of Tampa), and Justin Foraker (Clearwater).

"I knew Thursday was going to be the real deal," Guinand said. "I didn't want to go there again and not get better. Getting into the cut was nice, but I aimed past that."

Unfortunately, all seven were left out of Friday's final match-play rounds, failing to reach the top 16 among some of the most impressive youth bowling in decades. All seven served notice nonetheless. Mersch topped the area boys with a 28h-place finish, followed by Guinand, 36th despite scoring the semifinals' second-best game of 278. Foraker rolled in 78th.

For Stutler, her semifinal, which featured two 200s and two 190s, landed her in 25th with 5,738. Galante and Pavlak ended their week in 29th and 62nd.

"You have to say though, that our area is always there," Guinand said. "The movement is definitely here in Florida and some of the best bowling is happening right in Pinellas."

The Junior Golds hosted a sold-out pool of nearly 1,450 of the top youths in the country competing for $80,000 in scholarship money and spots on Junior Team USA 2007. For a complete list of results check Bowl.com.

ABT: Carrying his Absolute Inferno, drilled by Willie Vargas of AMF Clearwater, Louis Johnson needed just one other thing to win last week's Amateur Bowler's Tour tournament at Clearwater - Vargas.

Supplied with the right ball and Vargas' coaching, Johnson, 37, of Clearwater won his first ABT tournament last Sunday, taking home a total cash prize of $1,200 with his 44 handicap. He said he plans to give a good portion to his church.

David Acree of Brandon rolled in second, cashing for $300 and Chris Hicks of Largo won $200 in third. Rounding out the money list were Vinnie Crawford (Holiday), Kyle Wilson (Port Richey), Faizal Enu (Tampa), Brandon Wachob (North Port), Randy Thornton and Kathy Weaver (both Clearwater), and Kevin Pressley and Tim Franklin (both of Lakeland).

NABI: The National Amateur Bowler's Inc. will be celebrating all week in Las Vegas for NABI Week, and will return locally with a tournament for Club 577 at AMF Bradenton on July 30 with a jackpot of $175 and a strikepot of $147.

MEMORIAL: Former American Bowling Congress president Julian Johnson of New Orleans died July 7 at age 85. In 1966, Johnson became a member of the ABC board and in 1973 was elected vice president. He became ABC's 69th president on Aug. 1, 1982. He is survived by his daughter, Sandra Huston, and three grandchildren.

CHATTER: A couple of impressive scores slipped by unnoticed over the past month. Mike Wetherell (813), Ed Roy (808) and Walt Coddington (805, 781) each finished nights with 800s at Countryside. Twedt's Tod Janssen topped all house scores, all houses with an 822 series, featuring a 279 high game. Seminole's David Broughton continued his young success this week, finishing as high youth with 279/737. Keeping it fresh, Helen Ostrowski, a youth bowler, had the leading female score with a 625 series at Twedt's.

UPCOMING: Get out of the heat July 23 for a just-for-fun 8-pin/no tapper at Twedt's in South Pasadena or its sister center, Ten Pins in Largo. Twedt's starts at 1 p.m. and Ten Pins at 2:30 p.m. Trophies will be awarded and the entry fee is $20. Call Twedt's at 581-4102 or Ten Pins at 381-1010.

Ten Pins - Men: Jason Pettry 278/700, Bill Henry 258/697, Paul Doyon 255/740, Smokey Clark 247/691, Joe Dalton 246/641, Don Vachon 245/639, Bob Ashmun 244/666, Nick Springfield 238/684. Women: Kari Militello 249/596, Gillian Dean 210/584, Robin Hintz 207/591, Dawn Gillingham 202/523, Carey Blackwelder 202/525, Chris Byrne 540. Senior Men: Dave O'Brien 258/581, Tom Nomura 226/524, Rich Erpenbeck 213/566, Mike Barile 201/501. Senior Women: Honey Marshall 167/428, Mary Jo Borton 156, Katie Harmon 151/408. USBC Youth: Will Bartle 256/632, James Moore 220, David Segler 202/595.

Seminole Lanes - Mike Pittman 771, Jessica Pittman 601, Bob Hale 736, Karl Scoggin 279/698, Dennis Slininger 720.

Twedt's - Men: Jim Christensen 615, Joe Alore 290/715, Lance Lonsdale 683, Dave Lawson 695, Gysin Bardo 643, John Hackett 704, Nick Gates 664, Ron Sullivan 722, Chris Selleck 693, Tracy Watkins 652, Rich Novomeski 640, Joe Scroppo 653, Scott McDonald 645. Women: Kay McAleer 589, Michelle Huff 565, Sarah Pressler 504. USBC Youth: Cory Misura 639, Helen Ostrowski 625, Jake Thoma 621.

[Last modified July 15, 2006, 22:25:42]