BPAA Ladies All Star Event

Last month I competed in the BPAA Ladies All Star event in Rockford, Illinois. This tournament took the place of the U.S. Open this year and I am so grateful that BPAA with the help of John Sommers provided another tournament for us to compete in.

The Ladies All Star was also run in conjunction with the Senior U.S. Open. Down the street another BPAA tournament was held – The National Family tournament.

Prior to the start of competition, I bowled one of the pro-am squads that teamed us with the National Family tournament. It was so much fun meeting the parent, grandparent or family friend and the child they were competing with. It was a great event and I know the parents and kids were excited to have us there.

After practice session and pro-ams, The Ladies All Star tournament held a banquet that celebrated the history of women's bowling. Many Hall of Famers were present and shared stories of the old LPBT and PWBA tours. It was a fun night and gave great insight to the history of women's bowling.

The BPAA Ladies All Star was comprised of three 6-game qualifying blocks. I started off the tournament well, shooting games of 248, 218, 224, 172, 198 and 258 for +118 overall. I used my new Columbia 300 N’Sane Antics and Track LX 16 during this block.

The next day, we bowled on the burn squad, meaning they did not re-oil the lanes in between squads. I didn’t fair as well and just grinded out the day shooting games of 182, 208, 224, 206, 178 and 212 for +128 overall and +10 on the day using my Track LX16.

The final day of qualifying, the lanes were brutal. I could not figure out a great way to stay out of trouble when I missed and getting to the pocket was very difficult. I again struggled in the middle during the transition, shooting games of 233, 184, 171, 169, 214 and 191 for +90 overall using my pin down Columbia300 N’Sane Antics and pin up Ebonite Pivot. Luckily I had enough pins to qualify for the top 16 round robin match play finals.

Starting the day in 10^th place, my first 8 games of match play went very poorly. I believe I somehow forgot how to bowl overnight. I went 2-6 and had dropped very far from the top 5 stepladder finals. However, after a nice break and some lunch, I regained consciousness and remembered how to bowl, going 6-2 in match play and climbing my way back to 10^th place. During the block I had moved up to 6^th place with only 20ish pins out of the top 5 stepladder finals.

All in all, I was pleased with my performance for the week. The pattern was extremely difficult, as a U.S. Open type tournament pattern should be. Execution had to be perfect and finding a ball that didn’t leave you pretty designs when you missed was a must. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite match up well enough to find that magic reaction very often. However, despite that, my execution was top notch; I never missed a single pin spare in all 34 games and that’s all I can really ask for.

Congratulations to Shannon Pluhowsky for winning the BPAA Ladies All Star and Paula Vidad for winning the Senior U.S. Open! Great bowling ladies!

Til next time…

Missy Comes in 5th Place at the 2014 Queens

This year at the 2014 USBC Queens event in Reno, Nev. Missy Parkin qualified for the LIVE televised finals in the No. 5 position.

En route to the TV show, Missy qualified for the top 32 bracket style double-elimination 3-game total pinfall finals. Missy then went on to win her first 3 matches in matchplay, remaining in the winners bracket. She defeated  Daphne Tan of Singapore 645-625, Debbie Ayers of San Diego 661-642 and then collegiate star T'nia Falbo 741-622.

Missy then lost to Colombian native Maria Rodriguez 579-621. Losing that match put Missy into the final 4-player elimination match, with the top 3 of the 4 players advancing to the TV finals along with top seed Maria Rodriguez and No. 2 seed Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia.

Starting off a little shaky, Missy came back in the match to shoot 689 and clench the No. 5 seed. Jen Higgins claimed the No. 3 seed with 736 and Kelly Kulick rounded out the top 5 in the No. 4 seed spot with a 703.

On the TV show, Missy faced Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J. in the first match. Missy started with an early open and then strung 5 strikes in a row to get back into the match using the new Columbia 300 N'Sane Antics. Meanwhile, Kulick fired back with the first 7 strikes in a row. Kulick went on to defeat Parkin 255-220.

Congratulations to Maria Rodriguez who went on the win the 2014 USBC Queens event defeating Kelly Kulick 190-189
.

For the full results of the 2014 USBC Queens event, click here.

Missy Visits Jr. Gold Championships

I had the opportunity to fly to Buffalo, NY and visit with the junior bowlers that qualified for the prestigious USBC Junior Gold Championships. The USBC Junior Gold Championships is the biggest junior bowling tournament in the world, with over 2,700 kids from all over the country and neighboring Canada and Puerto Rico qualifying for the national finals. These bowlers are vying for spots on Junior Team USA as well as earning large amounts of scholarships money for college.

In 1998, I won the very first USBC Junior Gold Championships, so it was awesome to be able to go back to that tournament and see how much it has grown over the years.

On Friday, we held a Columbia 300, Track, Hammer and Ebonite demo, in which all of the Junior Gold participants could come and try out the latest and greatest EBI balls from all four brands.

On Saturday, I was part of a huge clinic that was held free of charge for the first 250 bowlers. We talked about lane play briefly and then worked heavily on spares since the difficult patterns put spare shooting at a premium. After the seminar, the national pro staff of EBI headed over to registration, where we had a meet and greet with all of the participants once they finished registering for the tournament.

I had a blast meeting the kids and seeing how much talent is coming up the ranks in the junior bowling world.

Til next time...

Missy Makes LIVE TV show Tomorrow, July 3rd ESPN 2 at 7pm EST

Missy Parkin qualified for the LIVE ESPN 2 telecast at the USBC Queens event which airs Thursday, July 3rd at 7pm EST (4pm west coast time.)

Missy is looking for her 2nd Queens title, after winning the prestigious Major in 2011.

For the full story and video highlighting the week's event at the USBC Queens, click here. 

Be sure to tune in and cheer Missy on!

Missy Ventures to PBA Summer Swing

This week I travelled from Team USA Training Camp straight to the PBA Summer Swing in Shawnee, OK at FireLake Bowling Center.

We competed on the newer PBA patterns - 32' Wolf, 40' Bear and 52' Badger. Each tournament consisted of 6 games of qualifying and then cut straight to the top 18 players for 6 more games of match play, after which the field was then cut to the top 5 players for the stepladder finals to be held on CBS Sports Network.

I felt great during the practice session and especially after training all week long at Team USA Training camp.

Our first pattern was on the shortest of the PBA patterns - the 32' Wolf pattern. I unfortunately started out poorly, not getting my ball to shape up correctly shooting -80 for the first 3 games. I finally made the correct move switching to my LX16 on the left lanes and Columbia 300 Omen on the right lanes and shot games of 204, 254 and 210 to get to -12 overall. The top 18 cut took +143 for the 6 games with Chris Barnes eventually being top qualifier, followed by Mike Fagan, Martin Larsen, Sean Rash and Chris Loschetter.

The next day, we competed on the 40' flat Bear pattern. Having great success on this pattern at last year's inaugural summer swing, I was pumped for the tournament. Unfortunately, I didn't strike enough shooting consistent scores, but not high enough to make the cut. I bowled games of 202, 193, 202, 184, 234 and 200 to be +15 overall on the day. I was very disappointed as it only took +92 to make the top 18 cut. Leading the tournament was Tommy Jones followed by Bill O'Neill, Ronnie Russell, Rhino Page and Dick Allen to round out the top 5 stepladder finals.

In the final tournament, we bowled on the longest of the PBA patterns - the 52' Badger. With my bowling ball not hooking a whole lot to start, I was just trying to keep the ball in play and pick up my spares. I had to throw it the slowest I possibly could and used a 500 grit pin down Columbia 300 Enigma to try and get my ball to face up. After two games, I then switched to my pin up Columbia 300 Take Down and later used an LX 16. I physically bowled by far the best on this day, but my scores didn't reflect it. I shot games of 220, 189, 236, 200, 193 and 213 to shoot +51 overall. It took +121 to make the cut, with Bill O'Neill leading the pack for the stepladder finals, followed by Pete Weber, Marshall Kent, Brian Valenta and Mika Koivuniemi.

Be sure to watch all of the action this summer on the CBS Sports Network.

Til next time...

Team USA Camp 2014

Last week, I ventured to Team USA Training Camp at the ITRC in Arlington, TX for a week of fun and training. Being my 5th year on the team, it's always nice to see old friends and bond with new teammates.

Although I can't let you in on all of the exciting, technological and fun details. I will share a few details of our week at camp...

Being able to utilize all of the tools at the ITRC is definitely one of the pluses of the week. It's always nice to compare ourselves to past years as well as see our strengths or weaknesses and find new areas to improve or work on.

We also had some quality team bonding time and were able to tap into our artistic side. The painting night was definitely one of my favorites during the week. :) 

 

All I can say is that Team USA 2014 is one AMAZING Team! 

Til next time...

Missy Visits Hawaii for PBA Regional Events

Overhead view of Waikiki and Diamond Head

I was fortunate enough to visit Hawaii - one of my favorite bowling destinations. Every year, there are PBA Regional events that take place on the islands of Hawaii. This year the tournaments started on the Big Island at KB Xtreme in Kona. 

Having great success at this bowling center last year in its inaugural event, I was excited to make the trip back to Kona. Prior to the tournaments, Scott Norton and I flew in early to do some sightseeing and relaxing.

Last year, we were able to visit the Volcano National Park, the Southern Most Point in the U.S. as well as Black and Green sand beaches.

Volcano National Park

This year, we decided to visit the other side of the island and drive to Hilo. We took the long and scenic route to Hilo, making pit stops at Akaka Falls and Kahuna Falls. Then later, we stopped at Rainbow Falls, where we hiked (in flip flops) through the mud and over rocks to get to the top of the waterfall. Ten mosquito bites and muddy feet later, the hike was well worth it for the amazing views and close proximity to the sheer power of the falls.  

Akaka Falls

Rainbow Falls

We later went into the historic town of Hilo and ate at Café 100, home of the Loco Moco. I LOVE Hawaiian food and I definitely got my fill while on this trip! Spam musubi, Kalua pork, and my staple breakfast – spam, eggs and rice.

After a yummy lunch, we headed to a natural thermal ocean pool, which is heated from lava underneath the rock and allows ocean water in, leaving fish, eels and other ocean life in a heated environment great for snorkeling.

Afterwards, we made our way up to Mauna Kea for stargazing at night.  Although it wasn’t the clearest night, we were still able to view Jupiter with its four moons as well as see all of the lines that surround Jupiter, which we learned are actually storms. We also viewed Mars, Orion’s belt and numerous other constellations and stars.  It was an amazing day to say the least.

Then started the tournament in Kona. The lanes were pretty challenging with massive out of bounds from 8 to the gutter, which definitely put more of a premium on shot making and spares.

I started off great shooting 229, 213, 222 and 191 using my Ebonite Pivot. Then I missed the transition and shot games of 171, 175 and 189 to put me out of the cut. Needing a big last game to cash and possibly make the cut, I switched balls to my Columbia 300 Eruption Pro and shot 235 for +25 overall.  I ended up being the first one not to cash, just missing by 21 pins as well as barely missing matchplay by 33 pins.

Although I was disappointed, I was still extremely pleased with how I bowled considering it was my first real test of a lot of games since I had injured my groin muscle in early January. After the USBC Masters, I took an entire month off from bowling to try and let it completely heal. It seems to have worked! J

We then ventured to Oahu, Hawaii for our next two tournaments. Prior to the tournaments, our Columbia 300 and fellow EBI staffers held a coaching clinic at Hickam AFB, which filled to capacity.

The next day, we had a one-day event at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station bowling center. The day was extremely high scoring with Scott leading the field shooting 300 and 278 to start out the event. I started out strong using my Columbia 300 Crazy Antics to shot 268 the first game. However, things quickly fell apart the second game as I struggled to find the pocket, shooting 158. I found a line, switching to my #emergencyorange Eruption Pro shooting games of 212, 246, 223, 250 and 249. Needing a big last game to cash and make the cut, I figured I needed to strike out and shoot 250. I got the first strike in the 10^th and then left a pocket 7-10 split to shot 242. The 7-10 ended up costing me making matchplay, as I shot +240 for all 8 games, but missed matchplay by 1 pin. I did still cash in the tournament.

I then played cheerleader and watched Scott win his 6^th regional title using a Columbia 300 Crazy Antics, defeating local Chad Pojas for the win.

In between events, we were able to visit Spam Jam 2014 that took place in downtown Waikiki. I of course was in heaven, loving spam and bought a couple of spam musubis and event bought a t-shirt that is perfect for me!

 

Our final tournament was held at Hickam AFB bowling center. The lanes were even more high scoring at this event. I didn’t fair too well at this tournament, not being able to carry. Scott didn’t have any trouble, shooting 300 both the first and 8^th game of the event using his Columbia 300 Crazy Antics. He ended up coming in 2^nd place for the event, behind David Haynes.

I have had the pleasure and privileged of traveling and bowling in Hawaii since I was 12 years old. Over the years, I have made many friends on the islands, which is why every year we all make it a point to see each other, usually for a dinner/BBQ. 

This year wasn't any different as we had a yummy BBQ and celebrated one of our friends’s daughter’s birthday. Timing also worked out perfectly as we were able to attend our friends' wedding.  

All in all it was a great trip to Hawaii. I can't wait until next year! Til then...