LEAGUE UPDATES:

The competitive Thursday Night Mixed League has moved to Mountain Lanes and the scores being recorded from this league are red hot. There are currently nine bowlers averaging over the 250 mark with Mitch Davies leading the pack at a 279 pace. Davies is followed closely by Francois Talbot’s 277 average and Dave Birkby’s 272 clip. Rounding out the top 10 are Matt Houston (265), Dave Bentley (264), newcomers Aaron Gallant (263) and Jason Davidson-Thoms (262), Martin Talbot (258), Matt Wieland (255) with Ross Varlow and Shawn Barrow tied for the 10^th spot at 248. Francois Talbot leads the league with a huge 391 scratch single game with Mitch Davies potting a 382 and Brian Nicholson firing a 380 scorcher. Talbot also leads the high scratch triple race with a 1014 set followed closely by Matt Houston’s 1010 and Mitch Davies’ 1007. The quartet of Mitch Davies, Matt Houston, Don Harada and Robert McDougall currently sit in a slim 1^st place lead in the team standings with a narrow half (0.5) point lead over Team Birkby (Dave Birkby, Dave Bentley, Jim Davies and Aaron Gallant). If you want to see some of the best in Hamilton, swing by this league on a Thursday night and take in some of the action!

Gord Winger from the Friday Night Mixed League at Mountain Lanes reports some high scores from their league. Russ Ruggles leads the average race with a 226 average and Heather Komadowski leads all females with a 180 average. High triple leaders are Ryan Gibson at 763 for the men and Deb Billard’s 598 for the females. Cory Davies ripped home a 292 single to lead the way while Billard’s 267 game leads the females. Some other bowlers from this league have had some great results including many bowlers who have bowled at least 100 pins over their average. They include Daniel Bertrand firing home a 273, Dave Winger’s 218, Ann Primmer’s 238, Bob Primmer’s 263 and Deb Billard’s 267. Topping the 700 triples list is the aforementioned Russ Ruggles 790, Cory Davies with a wild 759 and Dave Page’s blistering 744. We look forward more high scores incoming from this league as the season progresses.

The Friday Night Lights League has moved to University Lanes in Dundas with league secretary Mike Johns providing some high scores from their league. Guy Vernon, the 2018 Ontario Senior’s Single champion sits atop the league with a 251 average. Eric Ridgeway has powered his way to a 240 average with Ryan Lupton sitting in the bronze medal position for men with a 226 average. Leading the average race in the female category is league president Kristi Fraser at 233. Helen Fletcher (203) and Kelli Ridgeway (172) finish up the top 3 for the ladies. Vernon’s 361 single scratch game is good enough for tops in the league followed by Lupton’s 330 and Ridgeway gutting out a 321 single. Fraser fired a 305 single followed closely by Fletcher’s 264 and Mackenzie Graham’s 264. Team Glover currently are the kings of this league as they sit 1^st in the team standings. Team Glover, comprised of Guy Vernon, Mark Glover Jr., Andrew McQuaid and Kristi Fraser has another narrow one (1) point lead over Team Overtime (Mike Johns, Kara O’Donnell, Lauren Mair, Lisa Moning).

No scores have been reported from the Monday Men’s Beach League at Mountain Lanes, but there is one bowler there worthy of some attention. Dave Birkby bowled an incredible 1038 scratch triple with games of 297, 316 and 425. Birkby’s 1038 is the highest triple recorded thus far out of all the leagues so we look forward to seeing if his mark will be broken. Amazing bowling Dave!

TOURNAMENT UPDATES:

The first stop of the Club Tour was held on Thanksgiving Weekend at NEB’s Funworld in Oshawa. For those who aren’t aware of what Club Tour is, this tour attracts many of the top bowlers in the Ontario region. It also attracts bowlers from Quebec and the United States and top prize for winning the tournament is a cool $4,000. All bowlers bowled an eight (8) game qualifier and the top 28 from the qualifying made the playoff round. The playoff round is a two (2) game total score with the winners advancing. Hamilton qualifiers included Mitch Davies (qualifying 5^th with a score of 2052), Francois Talbot (9^th with a 2036 score), Krista Derkach (10^th with a 2028), Martin Talbot (17^th at 2012) and Jason Davidson-Thoms (28^th, 1957). Krista Derkach and Francois Talbot made it to the round of 16 before losing out. Mitch Davies went on to win the Club Tour defeating Jason Davidson-Thoms, Walt Brooks, Randy Main, DJ Villeneuve and Erica Prieur in the finals. Congrats to Mitch on bringing home the $4,000!

The Youth Bowl Ontario Cup was held on October 14^th, also at NEB’s. This tournament attracted 18 youth teams from all over the province in a five (5) game total score event. The team from Mountain Lanes of Jarrett Couchman, Alyssa Tabone, Katherine Bes, Talen McGraw and Abbey Dunn and Coach Dawn Terry finished 1^st in the event with a total score of 5790, which was an astounding 284 pins ahead of the 2^nd place team. This team was very consistent throughout the tournament posting scores of 1190, 1108, 1124, 1213, 1155. Well done team!

Also from the youth ranks, the 10^th Annual Youth Fall Classic was held on November 4^th at Stellar Lanes in Newmarket. This tournament featured a 24 person single elimination playoff format following the qualifying round. Jarrett Couchman ended up finishing 2^nd in this event with blazing playoff scores of 294, 360, 279, 322 and 277. Some great bowling – well done Jarrett!

Another recent tournament was the YBC Zone Senior Singles Championships. This tournament was bowled at Echo Bowl in Brantford with Matthew Hounsome winning the boys’ title and Abbey Dunn taking home the crown for the girls. Hounsome fired an impressive 1347 for five (5)games (averaging 269) with Dunn shooting a 966. Hounsome and Dunn move on to the Provincial round in Kitchener. Good luck to Matthew and Abbey!

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Some tournaments are coming soon within the Hamilton area. Come out and watch some great bowling or support the Hamilton zone through participation in these tournaments!

Youth Challenge – November 25^th at University Lanes – 8:30 am Registration, 9:00 am Start, $40 entry fee.

Ontario Open Week 1 Qualifying – December 2^nd at Waterdown Lanes – 8:30 am Registration, 9:00 am Start, $130 entry fee (regular), $75 entry fee (seniors)

Ontario Open Week 2 Qualifying – December 9^th at Mountain Lanes – 8:15 am Registration, 8:30 am Start.

High-Low Doubles/Inter Provincials – January 6^th at Mountain Lanes – 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Start, $11 entry fee (qualifying for this tournament currently going on through leagues).

Visit hamilton-5-pin-bowlers-association.local for the entire 2018-19 Tournament Schedule.

FUNDRAISING

Hamilton 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association is selling tickets to the Hamilton Bulldogs game vs. Guelph Storm on Saturday December 29^th at 4:00 pm. Please see Norm Macdonald for further details.

Booster Club tickets are still available. Booster Club tournament is March 17^th at University Lanes. Please see Gord Burns for further details. Further fundraising details will be released throughout the season.

Please see hamilton-5-pin-bowlers-association.local for updates!

H5 FLASHBACK

A new feature to the newsletter this year is the H5 Flashback section where we go back in history and take a look at how some of the Hamilton teams fared in Provincial and National competition. Each newsletter will feature one Hamilton team drawn at random and we will look back at how that team did.

This H5 flashback focuses on the 2004 Hamilton Men’s team competing in the 2004 Ontario Open Provincial Tournament. Hamilton usually puts forth strong teams in this tournament year after year and this team was no different consisting of Rogatien Rozon, Mirko Crljen, Mike Tuck Jr., Mike Bates and rookies Jeff Young and Chris Wilson, with Coach Ian Wilson finished 4^th during the round robin portion of the tournament qualifying for the playoffs with a 9-6 record and 73 total points. Led by Mike Bates 250 average, everyone on this team averaged over 230 for the tournament, with Crljen leading the team in match wins with 10. The team shot a high score of 1443 vs. Tri-County in the 7^th game of the tournament led by Bates 323, Tuck Jr’s 320 and Young’s 301. Unfortunately, the team lost in the first round of the stepladder running into a red hot York Simcoe squad who ended up defeating Hamilton 1473-1296 in the game. Rozon’s 286 and Tuck’s 278 led the way in the playoffs. Central Ontario would go on to defeat York Simcoe that year in the men’s division, but a strong effort was put forth by this Hamilton squad.

THE 11^th FRAME PODCAST

Another new feature this year is the 11^th Frame Podcast, a podcast where you can listen in to some of the happenings of 5 pin bowling on not only local levels, but also Provincial and even National levels. This exciting podcast brought to you by hosts Mike Johns and Kassie Bleses has had two episodes recorded and released thus far. Each episode deals with a topic or issue within the 5 pin bowling world and encourages some discussion revolving around that topic. Here is a recap of the first two episodes.

Episode 1 – Topic: The closure of Sherwood Centre and the results and impact it has had on the Hamilton and Ontario levels.

Episode 2 – Topic: Discussing some recent tournament results and also analyzing the results of the recent Ontario Open 5 Pin Bowling Survey with alternate suggestions put forward by Mitch Davies of how to improve the event structure in the future.

The podcast can be accessed on Facebook or Soundcloud. Listeners are invited to come up with some topics of their own to submit and also encouraged to be guests on the show if they would like. Have a listen and let the 11^th Frame know your thoughts and opinions!

Email: the11thframepodcast@gmail.com
Podcast: on Facebook @ 11^th Frame Podcast

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Gord Burns was the big winner in the 2017 Booster Club Draw as his #62 ticket was worth $250 in the final draw. The second major winner was the Mixed Triples league with ticket #20 worth $100. Other February winners for $60 each were John Conti and Norm Macdonald while Richard Hoover and Gord Winger carted home $40 each. Chair Sue Burns congratulates all the winners and thanks all who purchased tickets.

The zone tourney saw 34 entries at University Lanes. Don Dykeman won with a plus 128 score and will represent our Association at the provincial finals. Nikki Greer grooved plus 120, Debbie Atkins was plus 99, Ryan Gibson 82 and Tim Forbes 70.

ONTARIO OPEN / SENIOR OPEN 5 PIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The most exciting weekend in Ontario 5 Pin Bowling is almost here and it is right here at Sherwood from Wednesday, April 12th until Saturday, April 15th.  This prestigious tournament features the best bowlers from the 14 zones under the umbrella of the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association. A 13 team qualifying round and a 10 game singles qualifying round leads to a stepladder finals for the top qualifiers on Saturday. In the 2016 Ontario finals both our men’s team and our mixed team won gold while our ladies’ team settled for bronze. It will be tough to reach this level of excellence again this year but our Hamilton bowlers are always competitive and have proven time and time again that they can come through in the clutch.

The “Opening Ceremonies” on Wednesday, April 12th at 5:00 p.m. will feature the Parade of Champions followed by the first 5 Game Block of the Ladies’ and Men’s Singles and games 1 to 3 of the Senior Teams. Our Association will be represented in the Parade of Champions by Mitch Davies and Krista Derkach. The 29th Annual “Hall of Fame Game Ceremonies”, courtesy of Bowl Ontario 5 Pin and Fraser Hambly, will kick start the championship weekend at 3:30 p.m. Former champions and builders of our sport will be recognized.  Hope to see you there!!!

MEN’S BEACH LEAGUE

According to secretary, Brian Muir there are 2 big reasons this men’s league on Monday nights at Mountain Lanes continue to roll good scores. Consistent bowling allows for average increases even this late in the season. Another big reason is the excellent condition of the lanes thanks to great caretaking by Kevin. Kyle Donnelly has recently boosted his average by 4 pins thanks to a couple of triples both plus 150 over his average. Paul Hill is up plus 3 to a 173 average aided by a 686 triple that was 170 pins over his average. Tyron Harvey is plus 3 with consistent triples over 600. Renato Santoro styled a 762 triple barely topping a 760 by Brian Muir. Dave Muir was chasing dad with his 748 while Duncan MacLellan smacked a 720. Dave Bentley continues to lead the average race with an impressive 261 average.

5 PIN BOWLING EXHIBIT

Another first for our sport of 5 pin bowling! For those of you who just might be visiting the Ontario Science Centre this summer look for the 5 pin bowling display. The exhibit showcases the 5 pin bowling ball and pin. The bulletin describes the thought process behind Tommy Ryan’s invention of the uniquely Canadian game in 1909. The exhibit is on display until September 2017.

HAMILTON SPORTS REC LEAGUE

Gord Burns bolted to the top of the recent award winning scores in this Monday night league at Sherwood with a 751 triple accompanied by a 291 single. Laurie Iannuzzi had her own moments in the spotlight inking a 735 triple and zapping singles of 303 and 281. Marv Rioux returned to form with a 314 single while Tim Forbes found the range for a 273. Irene Winger with her 157 average whipped up a 637 triple while Charmaine Siddall with a 97 average stood tall with a 451 triple.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE LEAGUE

With 5 weeks to go neither the team race or the average race is close in this Tuesday league at Bowlerama. The team race sees the squad of Norm, Bob and Josh Macdonald along with Kevin McConnell holding a 37 point lead over the fighting five of Rick Kunkel, Rick Bender, David Roberts, Don Dykeman and Talen McGraw. David Roberts with a 240 average holds a commanding 10 point advantage over Adam Blais. Other averages in the 220 range include Rob Macdonald, Dave Crocker, Marc Skelton and Don Dykeman. Rick Bender has top triple of 891 while Bob Macdonald has a sparkling 410 single.

HAMILTON WENTWORTH MIXED TRIPLES LEAGUE

With 3 weeks of action remaining in this competitive mixed league at Sherwood there is a heated battle for top average between Martin Talbot at 261.9 and Mitch Davies at 261.5. This competition could go to the final frame of the last game. Stay tuned!!!  Other high averages include Dave Birkby 251 and 7 bowlers between 248 and 243; namely Matt Houston, Ross Varlow, Dave Bentley, Matt Wieland, John Conti, Mike Johns and Jim Davies. Mitch holds high 4 of 1282 and high single of 408. Michelle Murray has most wins with 33.5.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS BOWLATHON

The annual Special Olympics Bowlathon goes Saturday, April 29th at Sherwood running between 1-3 p.m. If you can help in any way give Norm Macdonald a call at 905-561-2685. Tickets are being sold for some fabulous prizes. This is a worthy charity!

COACHING CORNER

Coaching coordinator, Gerry Farrell, reminds our members of 2 “Intro to Comp Coaching Courses” available in the coming weeks. One is being held at Heritage Bowl in St. Thomas on the weekend of April 7-9. A second goes on the weekend of May 5-7 at Victoria Bowl in Kitchener. Cost is $175. To register contact the O5PBA office at 416-426-7167 or o5pba@o5pba.ca

TUESDAY BUSINESS MIXED

Gerry Farrell fired a 776 triple and Laurie Toth tallied 754 to pace this Mountain Lanes league. Adam Sachs averaging 117 scored a 553. Patrick Mooney topped the singles board with 307 followed by Jim Cook 284, Clarkson Newport 282, Kevin Olson 263, Dave Toth 262, Wayne Campbell 221 and David Sachs averaging 133 popped a 207.

While our regular Newsletters celebrate many of the outstanding scores rolled in league play by our Association members, it is worthy of note that these scores have not gone unnoticed by our parent body the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association. Our Record Scores chair, Gord Winger, dutifully sends our top scores in 5 different average classes to the O5, who then determines the best of the best for the bowling season. Once again for the 2015-2016 bowling season our bowlers have come through with flying colours, winning 5 individual awards and 9 team awards for the 14 Associations across the province.

Bowlers in the Hamilton Wentworth Mixed Triples league claimed 4 of the 5 individual awards. Mitch Davies recorded Class 5 Men’s 4-Game best with 1278 and Cynthia Wieland Class 5 Ladies’ best with 1198. Class 4 Ladies’ 4-Game best went to Amber Ashton with 1050 and Class 2 to Krista Nicholson with 828. Kevin McConnell of the Golden Horseshoe league scooped Class 3 Men’s single best with a 418.

In the 3 Player Teams categories Hamilton claimed 7 awards with 6 coming from the Mixed Triples league. Mitch Davies, Francois Talbot and Shawn Barrow bowled 3362 for 4 for men. Martin Talbot, Matt Wieland and Cynthia Wieland wired 3351 in mixed play with a single game high of 951. Kayla Birkby, Keri Bates and Krista Derkach took ladies’ honours with 3020 including a single game of 809. A single game men’s record score of 955 was stroked by Jim Clarke, Dave Pendlebury and Pat Mooney. Rick Bender with Rick and Dianne Kunkel from the Golden Horseshoe loop struck for 2183 in mixed 3-game action.

In 5-player team competition the team of Tammy Muir, Debbie Atkins, Patti Northey, Terry Farrell and Allison MacDonell rolled a 906 single game and a 2601 triple game score for their division. How many provincial awards will the current season bring for Hamilton bowlers? Gord will be watching and counting!

BOOSTER CLUB WINNERS 

The Booster Club Tournament is a provincial “Fund Raiser” program that rewards the eventual tourney winner with a trip for 2 to the sunny south. Our Hamilton Association has been a willing participant since the beginning. In addition to the tournament prize, bowlers who have purchased a ticket are eligible for weekly draws during the season. The January draws saw Kevin Heron hit the jackpot twice with ticket #68, initially winning $150 and following up with $60. Other winners were Lillian Williams $100, Cheryl Bates $60, Larry Cooper $40 and the duo of Keri/Becky $40. Stay tuned for more winners in our March Newsletter!

All ticket holders are eligible to enter the zone Booster Club tourney to be held March 19th at University Lanes. The zone winner qualifies for the provincial finals. Ticket holders may designate another Association member to bowl in their place.

TUESDAY BUSINESS MIXED LEAGUE 

Mike Waller is the latest bowling star of this mixed league at Mountain. Mike grabbed the spotlight with games of 278, 248 and 271 for a super 797 triple, well above his 178 average. It was also his first 700 series in a few years. Way to go Mike!!! Two other bowlers in his average range also posted 700 triples as Luc Valade vaulted to a 728 and Will MacDonell scattered the pins for a 704.

Patrick Mooney used a 331 single to record a 771 triple edging Allie MacDonell who rolled a 318 single en route to a 763 triple. Denise Clause counted a 302 single and a 713 triple while Nick Christensen concocted triples of 705 and 704. David Sachs, averaging 108, soared to a 203 single and a 465 triple while brother Adam with a 109 average aced a 197 single.

It’s great to know that Terry Farrell, who gives us the scores for this league, is back to her usual busy self after a recent health setback.

HAMILTON SPORTS and REC LEAGUE 

Steve Marshall certainly found his scoring touch during the month of January in this mixed league at Sherwood. Steve struck for a trio of award winning scores as he stroked singles of 335 and 329 and an 842 triple. Jason Adams also reached 800-country with his nifty 835 effort. Dave Page popped a 743 triple. Super singles went to Rob Winger 318, Jason Adams 298, Elaine Winger 264 and Irene Winger 263.

HOLIDAY CLASSIC ZONE TOURNEY 

The zone round of the Holiday Classic Tourney was held at Mountain Lanes on Sunday, February 12th. The team of Luc Valade, Will MacDonell, Ashley Macdonald, Nick Christensen and Mike Waller from the Tuesday Business Mixed league at Mountain with a plus score of 168 will represent our Association at the provincial finals slated for Sherwood on April 27th. Valade with a plus score of 118 and Christensen at plus 31 paced the team to victory. They chose Gerry Farrell as their coach for the provincials with trips for 2 to the sunny south awaiting the champions.

Chasing the winners was the team of Marv Rioux, Jason Adams, Shane Whitesell, Lisa Forbes and Jason Primmer from the HSR league at Sherwood, topping their average by 60 pins. Rioux at plus 80 and Forbes with a plus 65 outing led their squad. Snaring the third spot at plus 59 was the team from the Men’s Beach league at Mountain of Duncan MacLellan , Willy Forsey and a trio of Muir’s, namely Brian, Jason and David. Forsey at plus 82 and David Muir with plus 59 led the scoring.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE LEAGUE

The story for this Tuesday night league at Bowlerama is clearly that of Bob Macdonald. He followed up on an opening strike-spare with 9 straight strikes plus a 12th frame HP for a sizzling 410 single. Bob was a regular at the former BarDon Lanes averaging in the 230’s before taking a 22 year break from the sport. Now back in the game for 4 years Bob has battled his way back to a 218 average. This in an effort to keep up with his sons Rob and Josh.

The 410 single is a new league high while his 878 triple is second to 891 by Rick Bender. David Roberts has high average of 238 followed by Adam Blais 231, Rob Macdonald 228 and Dave Crocker 226.

MEN’S BEACH LEAGUE 

Dave Bentley continues to romp in this Monday night league with a 264 average aided by a 923 triple. Brian Muir had a flash of brilliance with a solid 769. January was good to several bowlers who improved their averages for the month…rookie John Verboom up 4, lefty Paul Hill up 3 with Kyle Donnelly and Brian Dore plus 2. Todd Harvey was a picture of consistency improving by 3 and leading his team to a series victory.

HAMILTON WENTWORTH MIXED TRIPLES 

This league, featuring 16 teams, continues to rack up several impressive scores. David Birkby holds high 4 scratch with 1204 while Francois Talbot toppled high 4 with handicap at 1240 aided by an 1180 scratch for 4 easing his average up to 238. Birkby has a 361 scratch single while Dave Copeland counters with a 397 with HC.

Martin Talbot has opened up some space over Mitch Davies in the average race with a 263 to 259 lead. Dave Birkby follows at 251 with Dave Bentley and Ross Varlow at 250. Michelle Murray has 21.5 wins in series 2.

SPONSORSHIPS 

Our sponsorship chairman, Martin Talbot, reports that our Association has received 3 PLATINUM sponsors for this season. One is the Golden Horseshoe Credit Union, obtained through director Gord Winger. Another is the firm of Swaye Crannie Boyd LLP, obtained through the efforts of director Susan Burns. The third is PhysiO’ Kids, operated by Kara O’Donnell, a bowler in the Golden Horseshoe league at Bowlerama. We also have a SILVER sponsor, Bath Fitter, obtained through an H5 bowler/member, Kassie Blesses.

When the chance arises, please be a patron of these most welcome and appreciated sponsors!!!

Our winter weather thus far has taken us on a roller coaster ride with alternating warm and cold spells. This mirrors what many of our Association members have experienced with their scores in both league and tournament play. In this, our January Newsletter, we will explore many of the better and at times surprising efforts achieved by our bowlers.

HIGH LOW DOUBLES TOURNEY

The High Low Doubles tourney held at Bowlerama on January 9th saw 16 duos battle over three games to earn the right to represent our Hamilton Association at the provincial finals at the Sherwood Centre on February 25th, with the winners receiving trips for two to the sunny south next November. Terry Farrell and Jerry Fudge of the Tuesday Mixed League at Mountain Lanes romped to a convincing victory beating their combined averages by 298 pins as Jerry jolted a 707 triple and Terry tossed an impressive 614.

Terry also earned family bragging rights over husband Gerry, who teamed up with Stephanie Sherwood from the same league to finish second with a 148 tally. Terry Reardon and Zach Colwell from the HSR League at Sherwood garnered third place with plus 135, while Will Forsey and Chris Carpenter of the Men’s Beach League at Mountain snared fourth with plus 109. The duo of Susan Burns and Tim Jeffery of the Hamilton Mixed Triples league claimed fifth topping their averages by 29 pins.

ONTARIO OPEN ZONE QUALIFYING TOURNEY

The four Hamilton Association teams who will represent us in the prestigious Ontario Open 5 Pin Championships next April in Hamilton were determined by a 20 game roll off [10 games for seniors] in December.  Leading the charge are Mitch Davies who delivered 5361, a 268 average for the men, and Krista Derkach rolled 4836, a 241 average to top the ladies. Hamilton is always competitive in the Open and 2017 should prove to be no exception. Eric Ridgeway was a close second to Mitch with a 5330 score and this duo will lead the men’s team of Dave Birkby, Matt Houston, Mike Johns and Ross Varlow, along with coach, Jeff Forester. Joining Krista on the ladies team, coached by Matt Wieland, are Cynthia Wieland, Chantal Papineau, Keri Bates, Kayla Birkby, and Kassie Bleses.

The mixed team features John Conti, Martin Talbot and Eric Milne for the men, with the ladies represented by Sara Deneault, Allison MacDonell and Amber Ashton. Coach Geoff Dunn will guide this crew. Shawn Barrow, who missed qualifying by a mere 12 pins, will be the alternate bowler for the men, and Kristi Fraser for the ladies. Sara Deneault had the high tourney single with a 365.

Our senior mixed 2017 team is led by Roger Bleses who bowled 2516 for his 10 games. Guy Vernon and Russ Ruggles join Roger, along with the thre lady qualifiers, Denise Clause, Susan Burns, and Sue Wlken. Association President, Norm Macdonald, is entrusted with coaching this team.

MEN’S BEACH LEAGUE

Brian Muir reports that in this league at Mountain Lanes Renato Santoro is carrying the hot hand. Since our last Newsletter, Renato has bumped his average by 14 pins, thanks to very consistent bowling. Mind you an excellent 866 triple was a major contributor. Mark Roberts has increased his average by 9 pins, while Tyron Harvey is up 7 pins. Dave Bentley continues to dominate the scoring with his league leading with a 262 average. He also holds the top triple of 958 along with a 922. Dave Muir rolled an 847, while Duncan Maclellan dealt an 846.

Congratulations go to their leagues High-Low winners Bart Lintott and Rick Needham, who were +527 over average during four weeks of competition.

HAMILTON SPORTS AND REC LEAGUE

Steve Marshall has been the focus of recent high award winning scores in this mixed league at Sherwood. Triples of 842 with a 335 single and 780 will garner plenty of attention. Marv Rioux also made some noise with steady triples of 734 and 733, including a 309 single. Rob Winger rolled a 760 triple to top a 726 triple from Gord Winger. Other solid triples came from Greg Witley 697, Ann Primmer 648 and Tim Forbes 642.

Award winning singles saw Tim Forbes with a 162 average fire a 286, while Jason Adams topped his 184 average by exactly 100 pins with his 284. Jim Hamilton hit for a 270, and Irene Bannerman bowled a 249.

YOUTH CHALLENGE PROVINCIALS

The Hamilton team won silver medals at the Youth Challenge provincial finals held in Oshawa on January 15th. Also, Marin Middleton from Mountain Lanes qualified for the Ontario ladies team headed for the National Championships in Ottawa on March 25-26 with the second highest score of 1427 for six games. Talen McGraw from Bowlerama qualified as an alternate for the Ontario team with the fourth highest qualifying score of 1455 for his six games.

The men’s team qualified first in their division, knocking off Ottawa in the first game of the playoffs, before falling to Niagara in the finals. The silver sluggers, coached by Bob Walters, included Talen McGraw, Matthew Hounsome of Waterdown, and a trio of bowlers from Mountain, Jakob Bes, Jack Crawford, and Jarret Couchman. The Hamilton ladies team finished seventh among the 13 competitors, while our mixed team placed ninth.

HAMILTON WENTWORTH MIXED
TRIPLES LEAGUE

In the continuing battle for top average in this 18 team mixed league at Sherwood, Martin Talbot has surged to a five pin lead over Mitch Davies. Talbot tops out at 265, with Davies dealing at a 260 pace. Dave Birkby claims third place at 253, followed by Dave Bentley 251, and Ross Varlow 250. Rounding out the top 10 are Matt Wieland and Matt Houston at 245, Mike Johns and John Conti at 244, and Jim Davies at 241. With the league four weeks into series two the trio of Brock Hill, Dave Copeland and Kristy Luker have a 10 point lead over Amber Ashton, Michelle Murray and Lindsay Laporte.

Early in the race for most wins Michelle Murray leads with 11, Brock Hill has 10.5 with Gord Burns and Dave Copeland with 10 each.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE LEAGUE

The league average score for this eight team loop at Bowlerama is 205.9 [excluding spares], according to statistics guru Norm Macdonald. At the top end of the league scores we find David Roberts with a healthy 241 mark. Also enjoying considerable success are Talen McGraw 235, Adam Blais 233, Rob Macdonald 225, Dave Crocker 224, Larry Cooper 220, and Don Dykeman 220.

After 20 weeks of play the team play the Macdonald trio of Norm, Bob and Josh along with Kevin McConnell holds first place, pursued feverishly by Rick Kunkel, Rick Bender, David Roberts, Don Dykeman and Talen McGraw.