Staff
Three local bowlers have advanced to the provincial Open championships coming up April 12-15 in Dryden.
Jeff Watts topped the field of 36 men vying for the nine provincial berths at the two-day, 20-game zone qualifier held over the weekend in Dryden–finishing with a 5,328 total pinfall (266 average).
Watts opened with a 322 on Saturday morning, then finished the five-game block with scores of 234, 246, 279, and 231.
His second five-game block later Saturday featured scores of 258, 279, 233, 300, and 318.
Watts then had scores of 252, 192, 325, 238, and 215 for the third five-game block Sunday morning before finishing with games of 276, 252, 319, 236, and 320.
He will be on of the six-member Sunset Country men’s team that will be chasing provincial gold in Dryden against the five other zones in Northern Ontario.
Watts also qualified for the singles portion of the tournament.
Caitlyn Townson, meanwhile, topped the Fort Frances bowlers vying for the nine provincial berths up for grabs among the 19 ladies who competed on the weekend in Dryden.
She qualified for the six-member Sunset Country ladies’ team by finishing the 20-game qualifier in fifth place overall with a 4,134 total (206 average).
Townson opened with games of 248, 199, 223, 224, and 165 before ending Saturday’s action with scores of 229, 178, 195, 204, and 204.
She rolled games of 167, 242, 165, 205, and 183 before finishing with scores of 182, 166, 236, 294, and 225.
The other local bowler to qualify was Kathy Bois, who finished with a 3,782 total (189 average) to wind up in ninth place and capture the final berth on the Sunset Country mixed team.
Bois opened with games of 193, 244, 143, 316, and 203 Saturday morning before finishing the day with scores of 151, 159, 136, 183, and 196.
She then had scores of 170, 159, 214, 178, and 229 before capping the qualifier with games of 184, 195, 134, 177, and 218.
Times’ editor Mike Behan was second-best among the Fort Frances men competing at the zone qualifier–finishing in 13th place overall with a 4,395 total (219 average).
He was followed by Dallas Gervais in 15th place at 4,337 (216 average), Jordan Sokoliuk in 18th place at 4,206 (210), Mike Cox of Atikokan in 25th place at 3,932 (196), Rich Walton in 27th place at 3,885 (194), and Cody Brown in 36th place at 3,087 (154).
Among the Fort Frances ladies, Toni Benning finished in 12th place at 3,591 (179 average), Debbie Armstrong was 16th at 3,243 (162), and June McNally was 19th place at 2,723 (136).
Joining Watts on the Sunset Country men’s team are Dryden bowlers Darryl Rollins (5,100 total), Ed Bates (4,794), Tim Gadd (4,754), Justin Galloway (4,695), and Don Compardo (4,642).
Rollins and Bates also will represent Sunset Country in the men’s singles portion.
Joining Townson on the Sunset Country ladies’ team are Dryden bowlers Michelle Riley (4,746) and Jackie Miner (4,668), Terri Hamilton of Balmertown (4,397), Cheryl Stefanik of Kenora (4,149), and Terry Delaronde of Dryden (4,054).
Riley, Miner, and Hamilton will represent the zone in the ladies’ singles portion.
Rounding out the Sunset Country mixed team are Dryden bowlers Chris Gadd (4,599), Jeff Hazlewood (4,590), and Kevin Savoury (4,513) for the men, along with Alexis Hamilton of Balmertown (4,004) and Jessica Scott of Kenora (3,997) for the women.
