The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page
LOCAL BOWLERS FAIR WELL IN KAMLOOPS
by Barb Gould
The Princeton Interior Team traveled to Kamloops on March 10th to compete in the 2005 Inter-Cities bowling tournament. The Princeton team is made up of six men and six ladies, a Coach and a Manager. Tryouts for the team were held in January 2005.
Our little bowling centre has once again proven that you donšt have to be a big centre to compete at the top levels. This tournament hosts twenty-four bowling centres from the Interior of our Province with the larger centres usually dominating the top spots at the tournament. The Princeton team finished ninth overall taking the total aggregate scores from the Ladies, Men's and Mixed Teams. Each team bowls eight games over the weekend for a total of 24 games.
The Princeton Ladies Team placed second overall losing out to first place only by 14 pins. A great effort was given by all members of the team and second place in this tournament is an achievement that they can all be very proud of.
The Princeton Mens Team gave a valiant effort and finished respectfully in their division. The Princeton Mixed Team did a great job to show how team spirit can be a huge motivator and that the team having the most fun is usually the loudest.
We had three rookie bowlers and a rookie manager this year. In keeping tradition we had them all dressed up for the banquet with this year's theme The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Our rookies all bowled well, contributing to the team on the lanes and in the stands. Their performance on the lanes was very impressive with the need to mention some high games.
Rookie Paul Gabriel bowled a 261 game and averaged 180 for the weekend. Rookie Christina (Teeny) Kovacs bowled a 263 game and averaged 200 for the weekend. Rookie Ron Graff Jr. kept a steady pace and averaged over 180. Way to go Rookies!
We need to give special thanks to our Coach, Gene Stadler. Gene has been involved in the Interiors for many years and his knowledge of the tournament and his bowlers as individuals has been a huge asset to us. Thanks for all your encouragement and for believing in us even when we didnšt ourselves.
Thank you also to our Rookie Manager Neal Jensen for taking all our pranks in stride.
