Staff
A pair of local bowlers led the way at the Open zone roll-offs in Kenora over the weekend.
Jeff Watts finished the two-day, 20-game showdown with a 4,621 total (231 average) to top the 19 men vying for the nine berths up for grabs at the provincial championships March 23-26 in Timmins.
Watts started slowly—opening with a 166 in the first game of the initial five-game block on Saturday before rolling games of 257, 196, 183, and 214.
He then caught fire in the second five-game block Saturday with games of 264, 314, 234, 279, and 234.
Watts struggled somewhat Sunday morning with scores of 210, 285, 177, 199, and 196, then finished strong over the final five games that afternoon (250, 270, 198, 215, and 280).
Toni Benning, meanwhile, topped the 12 ladies vying for the nine provincial berths after finishing with a 4,043 total (202 average).
She, too, started slowly on Saturday with games of 184, 169, 211, 155, and 171.
Benning turned things around in the second five-game block with scores of 230, 206, 150, 208, and 229.
Sunday morning was a roller-coaster (176, 217, 185, 243, and 160) but then she finished strong over the final five games with games of 239, 265, and 287 sandwiched around a 163 and 195.
Watts and Benning also will compete in men’s and ladies’ singles play at Timmins—a 10-game showdown held prior to the 15-game team competition getting underway.
Four other Fort Frances bowlers also snagged provincial berths over the weekend.
Dallas Gervais finished fourth overall among the men with a 4,239 total, which included a tournament-high 358 in Game #9 on Saturday night.
Mike Behan, whose high game was a 257 in Game #13 on Sunday morning, was 10 pins behind (4,229).
Behan, who sat in seventh place after the first 10 games on Saturday, rose to as high as third place after the first six games Sunday before slipping to fifth overall.
Rounding out the Sunset Country men’s team are Dryden bowlers Darryl Rollins (4,356), Chris Gadd (4,314), and Justin Gallaway (4,132).
Norm Sanders (Dryden) is the coach.
On the ladies’ side, Kathy Bois finished fifth overall with a 3,763 total after the 20 games.
Bois was particularly strong in the third five-game block—rolling scores of 232, 222, 244, 224, and 210 to sit in first place—before cooling off over the final five games.
Terry Delaronde of Dryden (3,853), Tammy Woitowicz of Dryden (3,844), Cheryl Stefanik of Kenora (3,840), and Charlotte Hazlewood of Dryden (3,712) round out the Sunset Country ladies’ team.
Tim Gadd (Dryden) is the coach.
Caitlyn Townson was the final local qualifier—finishing ninth among the ladies (3,532) to earn a spot on the Sunset Country mixed team.
That squad also includes Kyle Hamilton of Balmertown (4,122), Scott Miner of Dryden (4,095), Mitch Alcock of Kenora (3,989), Jessica Scott of Kenora (3,612), and Samantha Alberts of Dryden (3,551).
Lisa Sanders (Dryden) is the coach.
The other local bowlers who competed in Kenora were Rick Stamarski (3,625) and Rich Walton (3,197), who finished 14th and 19th overall, respectively.
Sunset Country will be vying against five other zones—Thunder Bay, Gateway (North Bay), Cambrian North (Sudbury), Nickel District (Sudbury), and host Gold Belt—at the provincial roll-offs.
The top men’s, ladies, and mixed teams will advance to the national round, as well as the top men’s and ladies’ singles.
Next up for local bowlers is the P.O.A. (pins over average) provincial championships Feb. 19-20 in Dryden.
Debbie Armstrong is a member of the Sunset Country #1 team competing in the P.O.A. division while Stamarski and Walton will represent the zone in the High-Lo Doubles division.
Behan is Sunset Country’s rep in the “Presidents” division of the Executive portion of the tournament.
