Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship - Reno, Nev.

Hello all!

First off, as many of you have noticed, I am no longer blogging on pba.com but will continue my version of Missy's Memo through this blog on my website. So please visit often and check out the pics and videos that always accompany the entries.

OK as for the tournament...The Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., was a great return of both men and women professional bowlers teaming together for an unforgettable event.

In this unique event, 32 women were brought into the exempt field, comprising of current exempt women's series competitors and top finishers at the PBA Women's Tour Trials (which was held simultaneously with the USBC Women's U.S. Open in August of 2008).

The 32 women and 64 men bowled 14 games of qualifying in their separate divisions and upon completion were both cut to 16 players. Players were then teamed together, with number one position in the men's division paired with number one in the women's and so. Teams kept half of their total pinfall going into the baker match play finals.

For those of you who are not familiar with the baker format, it means that each doubles team bowls one game together; another words each player bowls five frames of the game, rotating back-and-forth between players.

After qualifying, I was paired with exempt player Ken Abner. We started out on fire and overall bowled really well throughout the 16 games of baker match play. With a couple of breaks in the day and another win (each win received 30 bonus pins), Ken and I would have been on the TV show on Sunday. We shot a huge 255 the final position round game to jump from 10th to 6th place and only 54 pins behind the fifth and final position for the TV show.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Ken Abner, be on the lookout for him this season! Abner is extremely talented and led the PBA Central Regional in points in 2007-2008, thus earning his first career exemption. Abner also secured Player of the Year honors in his region. He currently made 7 out of 10 match play appearances this season on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. For more on Abner, click here.

For complete results of the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship, click here.

Check out the TV show finals for the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship on ESPN, Sunday, Feb. 1st at 2 p.m. EST