The Michigan Junior Masters Association waltzed into a jammed pack Eastland Bowl in Kalamazoo, MI with 112 bowlers looking to make their mark on the 2009-10 season. After all the qualifying, match play and step-ladders were complete, Samantha Johnson (Wyoming, MI) and Justin Netherland made their mark by standing atop the field as first time MJMA Champions.

Johnson qualified second on Saturday finishing 60 pins behind Kara Richard (Tecumseh, MI) who led qualifying with an eight game total of 1566. After the eight games of match play on Sunday however, it was Johnson in first and Richard second. Both ladies had to await the winner of the first step-ladder match however between Aleksandra Hudak (Taylor, MI) and Tawni Vollmer (Tecumseh, MI). Vollmer was leading the match as she was clean through the first seven frames but splits in the 8th and 10th frames opened the door for Hudak and she filled the tenth frames with a mark to win the match 178-171.

Hudak, a winner already this season in MJMA, next faced Richard in the semi-final match. The match went back and forth until the 7th when Hudak left a washout and followed that with a split in the eigth frame. Richard was having her problems as well but she converted a split in the ninth frame and doubled in the tenth to seal the win 179-166 and move on to the finals.

The finals match was close but Johnson seemed to have a bit of a problem as she missed spare conversions in the 3rd and 5th frames to give Richard a short lead but Richard opened in the 8th and then could not convert a split in the 9th and as Johnson threw a double in the 8th and 9th she took control and won her first MJMA title 181-158.

The guys had their share of adventures as well. All day on Sunday the match play board was bouncing all over the place but after the 12 games it was James Koss (Brighton, MI) leading the field, Koss had also led through the qualifying round as well. Netherland would then make his charge up the step-ladder as he would be in the first match against Michael Erlingis (Lansing, MI).After a shakey start Netherland settled in with a three bagger midway in the match and did not look back as he advanced with a 196-162 win. Next on the list was Nicolas Sutherland (Grand Blanc, MI) who had climbed from 21st after qualifying to be in the third position. But the day ended sooner than Sutherland had hoped as he fell to Netherland 200-176.

Netherland now seemed to be in a groove and in the semi-final match against Daniel Pollak (Macomb, MI) he continued his steady performance as he was clean through the first nine frames as Pollak struggled and Netherland advanced to the finals 194-151. In the finals it was all Netherland as he threw 5 strikes in the first seven frames and coasted to a 223 – 153 win to earn his first MJMA title.

In all we handed out $ 3,275.00 to the 32 bowlers who made match play this weekend and also qualified two more bowlers for the Junior Gold Championships in Indianapolis in July, 2010. James Koss and Samantha Johnson both earned their tickets to participate in the National Championship event from our Kalamazoo stop.

I wanted to than Karen Knockerbacher and all the staff at Eastland Bowl as once again they were very gracious hosts and gave us the opportunity to continue to challenge the youth bowlers with a very demanding condition. This was the second time this year that over the course of the weekend we had no one avergae 200 for the event. We will continue to challenge our members with these types of conditions and help them learn what they need to learn to be able to compete at the Championships and on into the college ranks.

As a way to help along those lines, we are pleased to announce a partnership with Turbo 2-N-1. Lori Tessmer, President Turbo 2-N-1, has agreed to sponsor the event in Sterling Heights at Sunnybrook Lanes in December, 2009. Not only will they be adding scholarship money to the event but they will also be hosting a clininc, prior to bowling, to let the youth members have the opportunity to see what they can do to better themselves on the demanding conditions they will be facing.

Lou Marquez, USBC Gold Coach and Director of Training for Turbo 2-N-1, will conduct the class with a special appearance from Carolyn Dorin Ballard a Multi tour champion and member of Team USA. The clinic will begin at 9:30 AM and run until 11:00AM. Members wishing to sign up for the class are asked to do so at the tournament office at the Lansing event or online through the MJMA website (the webform is pending).

The next MJMA event is November 21-22, 2009 at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing, MI. This will be our fisrt double points event so please make sure your entries are in early and don’t forget your cookie dough fundraiser forms and the money for those orders needs to be turned in at the Lansing event. Orders will be delivered to Sunnybrook Lanes in December, just in time for holiday cookie baking.