U.S. wins three team titles at Tournament of the Americas

ARLINGTON, Texas – The United States captured three team titles as the 52nd Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas came to a conclusion with the final games of the team competition on Saturday.

The United States team was coached by Team USA assistant coach Stephen Padilla and USBC Hall of Famer John Gaines. Here’s what Gaines, a former Team USA member, had to say about their performance:

[custom_frame_right shadow=”on”][/custom_frame_right] What a great week for Team USA at the Tournament of the Americas. The teams won 37 out of a possible 42 Gold Medals! The total medal count was 57 medals. What I might be most proud of though is that Team USA won 4 friendship awards out of the possible 5 divisions. A long week is now over. As with all of these events, it is great to see old friends and meet new ones. Again humbled and honored to be part of this program and very proud the team on and off the lanes.”

In addition to the three team titles, the U.S. squad had the all-events winner in nine of the 10 divisions and took the National All-Events title in four of the five divisions of the week-long tournament held at Strikers Lanes.

The tournament had divisions for Adult, Senior (ages 50-plus for men, 45-plus for women), Super Senior (ages 60-plus for men, 55-plus for women), Junior A (ages 16-19) and Junior B (ages 12-15) players.

Leading by just 27 pins entering the final game, Mexico held off Team USA players Brittni Hamilton of Webster, New York, Holly Harris of Long Prairie, Minnesota, Rob Gotchall of Lincoln, Nebraska, and AJ Johnson of Oswego, Illinois, to take the Adult title with a 8,142 pinfall total for the 10 games. Team USA finished with 8,114 pins while Puerto Rico (7,992) was third. Hamilton won the Adult Women all-events title for the second consecutive year.

[custom_frame_right shadow=”on”][/custom_frame_right]The Junior Team USA squad of Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina, Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, and Ronnie Fujita of El Sobrante, California, posted a 7,769 pinfall total to easily outdistance Venezuela (7,122) in the Junior A division. Anderson took home the all-events title for the second consecutive year while Clemmer, the Junior B all-events winner last year, won the Junior A Women all-events title.

USBC Hall of Famers Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Rick Steelsmith of Wichita, Kansas, joined with Karen Bacall of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Larry Porter of Whitesboro, New York, in capturing the Senior team title ahead of Mexico. In all-events, Johnson won the Senior Women title while Steelsmith and Porter finished first and second, respectively, in the Senior Men division.

The U.S. team of Ashley Channell of Morris Chapel, Tennessee, Leah Glazer of Henderson, Nevada, Cortez Schenck of Phoenix, and Sean Wilcox of Altamonte Springs, Florida, rolled to the Junior B title with a 7,594 total with Puerto Rico (6,684) taking second and Venezuela (6,626) placing third. Wilcox and Cortez finished 1-2 in all-events while Channell was the top Junior B Women player.

Mexico also captured the Super Senior team title by edging the U.S. team of Jesslyn Rhoades of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Carol Teel of The Villages, Florida, Sam Carter of Ben Lomond, California, and Jack Nelson of Bismarck, North Dakota, by 66 pins. Teel and Carter won in all-events.

The members of the U.S. Senior and Super Senior teams earned the opportunity to compete in the Tournament of the Americas by their performance at the Open Championships and Women’s Championships; Junior B team members earned their spots at the 2013 Junior Gold Championships.

The Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas featured players from countries in the Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON), the American Zone of the World Tenpin Bowling Association, competing for medals in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, mixed team and all-events. It is the oldest annual international tournament in the American Zone.

Go to bowlingamericas.com for complete scores.

Terry Bigham
USBC Communications