Junior bowlers qualify for provincials

“S-P-A-R-E, S-P-A-R-E. That’s what we wanna see!”
That chant echoed its way around Plaza Lanes here last weekend as more than a 100 youth bowlers from across the region competed in the zone round of the “Four Steps to Stardom” tournament.
And both the local junior boys’ and girls’ teams qualified for a berth at the provincials in North Bay next month.
The junior boys’ team consists of Jon Wood, Jeff Watts, Tyson Piccinato, Jason Hammond, and Jordan Bale. Their coach is Bob Petawanaqueb.
Meanwhile, the junior girls’ team features Annelise Harwyluk, Ashley Lafreniere, Danielle Garron, Sara Degagne, and Jennifer Hawley, along with coach Kayne Shaw.
In singles action, locals Jen AmOrdé (senior girls) and John Smith (senior boys) qualified for the provincials in their respective categories.
Other local bowlers also had a strong weekend but failed to qualify for the provincials.
Erika Jourdain just missed advancing in singles play after finishing second in the Bantam girls’ division. Tyler Good finished third among the Bantam boys while Jessica Hazel and Sheldon Legaree each earned bronze at the junior level.
Meanwhile, the local Bantam boys’ team–featuring Alex Marusyk, Sean Scott, Robert Ellis, Jared Morelli, and Kasey Hawrylak (coached by Don Smeeth)–earned the silver medal in their division.
The local Bantam girls’ squad–including Lacey Bolduc, Karrisa Bruyere, Caitlyn Townson, Heather Watts, and Megan Ossachuk (coached by Roberta Chabot)–finished with the bronze medal.
Both the local senior girls’ and boys’ teams also went home with bronze medals in their respective divisions.
Kim Murray, Gillian Piccinato, Carolyn O’Brien, Ashley Nault, and Meagan Bale made up the senior girls team (coached by Lori Pattison) while Bryan Pattison, Clinton Beadle, Andrew Stamarksi, Danny Bone, and Bill Mundle made up the senior boys (coached by Mary Wood).
“These kids take it really seriously,” noted Brenda Hazlewood, zone director for YBC. “Most bowlers are average but some are really good.
“People don’t realize how far bowlers can go with this. They think it is just a fun sport,” she added.