PWBA Rochester Open

This week we travelled to AMF Gates Lanes in Rochester, NY for the PWBA Rochester Open. 

The tournament was unique in the sense that there would be no re-oiling in between squads. It was a trial run for possible future events. 

We bowled on a 37' foot pattern this week using ice conditioner on 27.635 mL of oil.

During the first block of qualifying, I used my Track Paradox, Heat X-treme and New Ebonite Game Breaker 2 Phenom to shoot 200, 213, 267, 169, 232 and 216 for +97.

The next block of qualifying on the burn (no re-oil), I started with my Game Breaker 2 Phenom and shot 225 and then struggled again on the high end shooting 177 and 169. Needing some big games, I switched to my New Hammer Rebel and shot 247, 267 and 225 to get to +207, which put me in 9th place overall going into the casher's round.

The next day, I struggled in the casher's round. The lanes were flatter and definitely tricky. I ended up coming in 17th place in the tournament and missed the next cut to the top 12 for Matchplay. 

BIG congratulations to my roommate and Team C300 teammate Clara Guerrero for qualifying as the No. 2 seed for the TV Show! I'd also like to congratulate fellow Team C300 teammate Josie Earnest for making the TV Show as well! 

After the tournament, Clara and I both bowled the pro-am event on Sunday and then hosted a clinic immediate following. Thanks to everyone that came out!

Now it's on to Florida for a little R&R before the next PWBA Tour stop. #letsbowl 

Team USA Training Camp

Immediately following the PWBA Lexington Open, I travelled to Arlington, TX for Team USA Training camp. It was a very shortened camp of only 3 days since we had to squeeze it in between PWBA Tour stops. 

Although it was short, I felt that it was very productive as I was able to work on a lot in a very short amount of time.

I had a great time hanging out with my teammates on and off the lanes all week.

The last day of camp, we were joined with the men's team. We had pictures, went over our elite training assessments from camp and got down on the lanes and practiced some more.

For our team bonding activity that night, we went curling. It was fun to learn a new sport. Unfortunately, I had injured my back at the PWBA Lexington Open and didn't want to overdo it. I had fun learning the basics, but I didn't participate the entire time to give my back a rest. 

From team camp, we then flew straight to Rochester, NY for the PWBA Rochester Open. Until then...

PWBA Lexington Open

Immediately following Bowl Expo in Las Vegas, we flew straight to the next PWBA Tour stop at Collins Bowling Center- Eastland in Lexington, KY.

I was excited for this stop because my mom's entire family is from Louisville, which is only a little over an hour away. Because of my crazy bowling schedule, I haven't been able to visit them for a very long time.

This week we bowled on a 38' pattern using 25.8mL on volume.

Most bowlers found success playing inside the track to start and then migrating left and opening up their angles. I, on the other hand, found a shot playing outside around 1st arrow, throwing it hard and straight. 

For those that follow along on Xtra Frame, you may have noticed that I was wearing a small wrist brace this week. This brace is actually more of a training tool that I use to practice, but it came in handy this week and it allows me to stay more behind the ball. 

The scores this week were very low, which put a premium on shot making and spare shooting. I shot games of 201, 254, 160, 221, 167 and 200 for +3 overall. I used my New Track Heat X-treme for most of the block.

I will say it was very easy to shoot low games this week. With bowling on twister pins, all it took was a bad pair, coupled with a few bad breaks to shoot a low game. 

The second block of qualifying, I had a cheering section as my Uncle Kevin and his wife Dana came to watch me bowl. I started out strong and used my New Heat X-treme the entire block, shooting games of 260, 234, 164, 279, 203 and 192 for +135, which put me in 5th place going into the casher's round.

I drilled a pin up Heat X-treme for the next day to help when the lanes started to dry up. This allowed me to stay near the same part of the lane, but help the ball get through the heads better when the lanes started to dry up.

In the casher's round, the lanes were brutal. I shot games of 214, 211, 215, 191, 186 and 166 (with my only open being a pocket 4,9 in the 10th frame.) That dropped me down to 10th place going into Matchplay. 

After regrouping, fixing surfaces and mentally recharging, I was determined to bowl well in match play. I went 2-4 in Matchplay, although my scores were pretty solid for the low scoring pace. I shot 228, 209, 210, 179, 214 and 189 using both of my Track Heat X-tremes and a Paradox. This put me in 4th position for the stepladder finals in my bracket.

In the opening match, I faced Diana Z. I used my pin up Heat X-treme and won shooting 223 to her 181. I then faced Shannon O'Keefe. The winner of this match would join Kelly Kulick and Bryanna Cote on the TV show. I bowled a very good game, never missing the pocket but left a stubborn 8 pin in the middle of strikes to shot 214 and lost to her 239. 

It was another good week, but again just short of making the TV finals. 

Congratulations to Shannon O'Keefe and Shannon Pluhowsky for joining Bryanna and Kelly for the TV show stepladder finals. 

The next day, I was able to visit with some of my family for lunch before flying out to Team USA training camp. It was so great to catch up with everyone!

Until next time...

PWBA Players Championship & Bowl Expo 2016

Last week, we travelled to Green Bay, WI for our 2nd major of the season - the Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley. 

Having bowled the USBC Masters and Queens at this same center last year, it was nice to be back. The proprietor Dave and General Manager Matt are amazing hosts! Plus Joel from the Greater Green Bay CVB always has a warm welcomes for all of the pros.

In between the PWBA Greater Detroit Open and this event, I was able to go home for a few days and rest and relax. 

I also drilled a few of the new EBI balls as well - The Columbia 300 Swerve GT, the Ebonite Game Breaker Phenom and the Track Heat Xtreme. I added these new balls, as well as my two new Ebonite Warrior Supremes to my arsenal. 

This week, we bowled on a 42' pattern using ice oil. I drilled a new Hammer Rebel prior to the start of competition in order to deal with the hooking heads that I might face towards the end of the block. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get anything going on the lanes and had a very disappointing week. 

However, it was great to cheer on my roommate and Columbia 300 teammate Clara Guerrero. She bowled phenomenal all week long and qualified for the live TV finals as well as another previous taped show from the PWBA Lincoln Open. 

I hope all of you were able to tune in to CBS Sports Network on Sunday for the live finals. Clara put on a show and ran away with the title defeating Liz Johnson 175-199.  HUGE congratulations to Clara!!! I am so proud of you!!!

Now begins a crazy stretch of the PWBA Tour. Immediately after the PWBA Players Championship, the EBI women flew from Green Bay, WI straight to Bowl Expo in Las Vegas, NV to help promote our amazing brand for a few days. 

We had a lot of fun during the product showcase. This is a giant demo where all of the pro shops could come and demo all of the new EBI balls for this upcoming season.

The next day, we further promoted Team EBI and the Columbia 300 brand at the Bowl Expo Convention. I also made it over to the High 5 Gear and Vise booths.

We then took a red eye straight to the next PWBA Tour stop in Lexington, KY. 

After Lexington, KY, I will then fly straight to Arlington, TX for 3 days of intense training at the ITRC for our yearly Team USA training camp. Immediately following camp, I will be flying on to the next stop of the PWBA Tour in Rochester, NY. It should be a fun, but a crazy few weeks. Can't wait! 

Stay tuned for all of the action and follow along at www.pwba.com 

Until then! 

PWBA Greater Detroit Open

Last week, I travelled to Super Bowl in Canton, MI for the PWBA Greater Detroit Open. Prior to the event, I had the pleasure of returning to the Detroit Athletic Club for an Ebonite International sponsored pro-am event. The DAC is a top-notch member-only exclusive athletic club, which features 8 bowling lanes in its facility. I was thrilled to be invited back by Tom Reaume of the DAC, as last year’s event was so much fun!

I flew in and went straight to the Motown Museum, as Tom had arranged a tour for us. We learned more about the history of Motown music and Hitsville U.S.A. I did not realize how many big hits came out of Motown! Fun fact…Beyoncé, was noted to have been there just an hour prior to our arrival, as she was performing at Ford Field that same night in downtown Detroit. 

After the tour, we headed to one of Detroit’s newest hot spots - Selden Standard for an outdoor patio dinner, followed by admiring the views from the new 7^th floor grill at the top of the DAC.

The next morning, we were pampered with a massage before participating in the pro-am event that evening. The pro-am event was very successful, as many participated and everyone seemed to have a great time! HUGE thank you to Tom Reaume of the DAC for the gracious hospitality! It is always a privilege to be able to showcase our talent in in environment such as the DAC.

We then started the PWBA Greater Detroit Open. This week, we competed on a 44’ oil pattern. After practice session, I drilled a new Track Cyborg to fit in between my Track Paradox and Ebonite Warrior, as both balls looked great on the pattern.

I started out strong the first block of qualifying shooting games of 257, 214, 223, 212, 211 and 243 for +160. I started the block using my Track Paradox and after game 2, switched to the new Track Cyborg and Paradox Pearl. I then finished the block with my Ebonite Warrior the last two games. This put me tied for 6^th place overall.

During the break, I decided to drill another ball and this time I drilled the New Ebonite Warrior Supreme. I again started block 2 using my Paradox and shot 215. I then switched to my newly drilled Warrior Supreme and quickly fell in love with this ball! I used it the rest of the block, shooting games of 228, 237, 258, 233 and 204 for +175 that block and +335 overall. This put me in 4^th place going into the top 32 casher’s round of qualifying.

 

During the casher’s round, the lanes were definitely a little tricky. I shot 243 to start using the New Warrior Supreme and then struggled a bit in the transition shooting 183 and 196. I switched to my Paradox Pearl and changed my angles a bit to then shoot 226, 223 and 238 to qualify in 4^th place finally making the next cut to the top 12 for match play.

Once the cut is made to the top 12, all of the odd numbered qualifiers (1,3,5,7,9 and11) go into a bracket and all of the even numbered qualifiers (2,4,6,8,10 and 12) go into a different bracket. For matchplay, players only compete against their own bracket the entire time. We bowl 6 games of round robin matchplay with the winner of each match earning 30 bonus pins. After 6 games, the top qualifier in each bracket automatically qualifies for the TV show. Then the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds in each bracket bowl a traditional stepladder finals (No. 3 bowls the No.4 seed and the winner bowls the No. 2 seed) and the winner of each stepladder finals also advances to the TV finals.

Going into matchplay, I drilled another Ebonite Warrior Supreme with a similar layout to the original, just with a bigger extra hole and put more surface on it to start. My goal was to obviously lead my bracket and earn the automatic seed onto the TV show. However, that didn’t end up working out as Rocio Restrepo bowled phenomenal in our bracket and pulled away from the field.

I went 4-2 in matchplay and shot a big 257 the last game, leaving a stubborn 9 pin the second shot in the 10^th frame to just miss the No. 2 seed by 1 pin.

In the stepladder finals, I bowled against one of my roommates Sandra Gongora in the opening match. The match was very close as we both were bowling well. In the end, I needed a mark and good count to win and struck out defeating Sandra 235-221. I then faced Tannya Roumimper from Indonesia. The winner of this match would make the TV finals and join Rocio Restrepo from Colombia and Jane Li Sin from Malaysia.

During the match, I couldn’t miss on the left lane, but had some issues on the right lane with my ball starting to hook early. I was using the newer, dull Warrior Supreme and then in the middle of the game, I switched to my shinier Warrior Supreme on the right lane and managed to double, but left a ring 10 pin to shut out my chances of winning. I ended up losing to Tannya 206-244, coming in 5^th place overall.

Although I am very disappointed in not making the TV show, I am also very proud of how I competed last week, especially with all of the personal issues I have going on. For those that are not aware, I made a public statement explaining that I had a miscarriage during the previous stop - the PWBA Lincoln Open. It is the second time we’ve lost a baby in one year. I almost didn’t bowl in Detroit, but I’m glad I stayed strong and pulled through it. Thank you to everyone for the unending support! It means more than you could ever know!

Be sure to follow along at www.pwba.com and www.xtraframe.tv for the start of our second major of the PWBA Tour season – The Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship, which starts this Thursday at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, WI. Until then!

PWBA Greater Detroit Open

Last week, I travelled to Super Bowl in Canton, MI for the PWBA Greater Detroit Open. Prior to the event, I had the pleasure of returning to the Detroit Athletic Club for an Ebonite International sponsored pro-am event. The DAC is a top-notch member-only exclusive athletic club, which features 8 bowling lanes in its facility. I was thrilled to be invited back by Tom Reaume of the DAC, as last year’s event was so much fun!

I flew in and went straight to the Motown Museum, as Tom had arranged a tour for us. We learned more about the history of Motown music and Hitsville U.S.A. I did not realize how many big hits came out of Motown! Fun fact…Beyoncé, was noted to have been there just an hour prior to our arrival, as she was performing at Ford Field that same night in downtown Detroit. 

After the tour, we headed to one of Detroit’s newest hot spots - Selden Standard for an outdoor patio dinner, followed by admiring the views from the new 7^th floor grill at the top of the DAC.

The next morning, we were pampered with a massage before participating in the pro-am event that evening. The pro-am event was very successful, as many participated and everyone seemed to have a great time! HUGE thank you to Tom Reaume of the DAC for the gracious hospitality! It is always a privilege to be able to showcase our talent in in environment such as the DAC.

We then started the PWBA Greater Detroit Open. This week, we competed on a 44’ oil pattern. After practice session, I drilled a new Track Cyborg to fit in between my Track Paradox and Ebonite Warrior, as both balls looked great on the pattern.

I started out strong the first block of qualifying shooting games of 257, 214, 223, 212, 211 and 243 for +160. I started the block using my Track Paradox and after game 2, switched to the new Track Cyborg and Paradox Pearl. I then finished the block with my Ebonite Warrior the last two games. This put me tied for 6^th place overall.

During the break, I decided to drill another ball and this time I drilled the New Ebonite Warrior Supreme. I again started block 2 using my Paradox and shot 215. I then switched to my newly drilled Warrior Supreme and quickly fell in love with this ball! I used it the rest of the block, shooting games of 228, 237, 258, 233 and 204 for +175 that block and +335 overall. This put me in 4^th place going into the top 32 casher’s round of qualifying.

 

During the casher’s round, the lanes were definitely a little tricky. I shot 243 to start using the New Warrior Supreme and then struggled a bit in the transition shooting 183 and 196. I switched to my Paradox Pearl and changed my angles a bit to then shoot 226, 223 and 238 to qualify in 4^th place finally making the next cut to the top 12 for match play.

Once the cut is made to the top 12, all of the odd numbered qualifiers (1,3,5,7,9 and11) go into a bracket and all of the even numbered qualifiers (2,4,6,8,10 and 12) go into a different bracket. For matchplay, players only compete against their own bracket the entire time. We bowl 6 games of round robin matchplay with the winner of each match earning 30 bonus pins. After 6 games, the top qualifier in each bracket automatically qualifies for the TV show. Then the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds in each bracket bowl a traditional stepladder finals (No. 3 bowls the No.4 seed and the winner bowls the No. 2 seed) and the winner of each stepladder finals also advances to the TV finals.

Going into matchplay, I drilled another Ebonite Warrior Supreme with a similar layout to the original, just with a bigger extra hole and put more surface on it to start. My goal was to obviously lead my bracket and earn the automatic seed onto the TV show. However, that didn’t end up working out as Rocio Restrepo bowled phenomenal in our bracket and pulled away from the field.

I went 4-2 in matchplay and shot a big 257 the last game, leaving a stubborn 9 pin the second shot in the 10^th frame to just miss the No. 2 seed by 1 pin.

In the stepladder finals, I bowled against one of my roommates Sandra Gongora in the opening match. The match was very close as we both were bowling well. In the end, I needed a mark and good count to win and struck out defeating Sandra 235-221. I then faced Tannya Roumimper from Indonesia. The winner of this match would make the TV finals and join Rocio Restrepo from Colombia and Jane Li Sin from Malaysia.

During the match, I couldn’t miss on the left lane, but had some issues on the right lane with my ball starting to hook early. I was using the newer, dull Warrior Supreme and then in the middle of the game, I switched to my shinier Warrior Supreme on the right lane and managed to double, but left a ring 10 pin to shut out my chances of winning. I ended up losing to Tannya 206-244, coming in 5^th place overall.

Although I am very disappointed in not making the TV show, I am also very proud of how I competed last week, especially with all of the personal issues I have going on. For those that are not aware, I made a public statement explaining that I had a miscarriage during the previous stop - the PWBA Lincoln Open. It is the second time I’ve lost a baby in one year. I almost didn’t bowl in Detroit, but I’m glad I stayed strong and pulled thought it. Thank you to everyone for the unending support! It means more than you could ever know!

Be sure to follow along at www.pwba.com and www.xtraframe.tv for the start of our second major of the PWBA Tour season – The Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship, which starts this Thursday at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, WI. Until then!