Local bowlers help grab gold

It was a golden moment full of local flavour.
Fort Frances bowlers Jon Wood, Dan Bone, Jen Hawley, and Ashley Lafreniere helped the Sunset Country mixed team capture first place at the Northern Ontario 5-Pin Bowlers’ Association provincial youth challenge Dec. 6-8 in Thunder Bay.
The quartet joined teammate Jared Stockham to sweep their final round of head-to-head games and rally from a six-point deficit to squeak past North of Superior 26-24 to take the title.
Bone trailed only Stockham’s team-high mark of 237.2 with a five-game average of 225.4, including a high score of 254 in his second game.
Wood struggled in his first three games, but battled back to post scores of 205 and 270 in his last two to post an average of 198.6.
Lafreniere had a high-water mark of 206 in her second game en route to a 190.4 average while Hawley rolled a 212 in her third game to provide the foundation for a 174 average.
Andrew Stamarski of Fort Frances had a five-game average of 220.8, including a high score of 232 in his second game, as Sunset Country finished fifth in the men’s division with a total of 18 points—15 behind first-place North of Superior.
In women’s action, local bowler Cristy Beadle recorded a high score of 198 in her second game en route to a five-game average of 182.4.
But her team had a difficult time all-round as Sunset Country ended up in last place with a total of 13 points—19 behind front-running North of Superior.