Earl Anthony Medford Classic - Meford, Ore.

The final stop of the PBA Women's Series season couldn't have been at a better venue - Lava Lanes in Medford, Ore. for the Earl Anthony Medford Classic.

The management and staff at Lava Lanes always treat the PBA and its bowlers with the utmost hospitality during the week of kegeling. Pro-ams are always full, fans are abundant, TV crews and newspaper reporters are on hand everyday (and the catered food is appreciated immensely).

If you have never witnessed a PBA event in Medford, it is definitely a sight to see and an event to partake in. Even the Tour Qualifying Round (TQR) is packed with eager fans, who await the yearly event.

And of course, the event couldn't be named after a better individual and ambassador to the sport of bowling - Earl Anthony. As it has now been announced, Earl Anthony was voted "THE" Greatest Player in the PBA Tour's 50 years of existence.

This was also the first year that the PBA Women's Series ventured to Medford and to commemorate the occasion, the center hosted an all women's series special pro-am event on Tuesday night. The pro-am was packed and locals were excited to see the women come to Medford. I heard a lot of "We love watching the women bowl!" and "We're so excited to see you gals come to town!" comments from all.

The entire week the grand stand bleachers were full and many familiar pro-am participants cheered us on. I was lucky enough to be scheduled for two pro-ams that week (one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday), so prior to the start of qualifying on Thursday, I had plenty of fans to cheer me on, which was greatly appreciated!

I was also interviewed on Tuesday afternoon during the unofficial practice session and was featured on the afternoon and late-night NBC local news station.

Although I was sick the entire week, I still had a lot of fun!

The most difficult thing about the week was by far the oil pattern. The Earl Anthony pattern was a newly designed pattern and was probably the most difficult pattern I have competed on in a VERY long time. (Although you couldn't tell by watching Wes Malott bowl on it, who averaged 225.69 for the entire event.)

The pattern was pretty flat, demanding accuracy and extremely good execution. Even nailing the target but throwing it a touch slow or hard would make the ball react dramatically different and resulted in missing the pocket more often than not. (If you watched the telecast of the TV show, you can see this first hand by Tommy Jones' ball reaction in the championship match.)

I bowled really well in qualifying, finishing out the 14 games at +4 and in 5th place. However, match play the next day was another story. I couldn't seem to get anything going and didn't throw the ball that well, resulting in only winning 2 out of 9 matches and finishing in 9th place overall.

It was very sad to realize that it was our last PBA Women's Series event of the season. All of us girls really created a close bond and it was awesome to travel and compete alongside the men the entire season.

Stay tuned for a recap of the PBA Women's Series season and be sure to check out the PBA Women's Series Showdown presented by USBC that will air on ESPN April 12 from 1-3 p.m. EST.