Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights, Michigan once again hosted the Alro Steel – Michigan Junior Masters Association’s Sport Challenge event this year. Randy Shank and all the staff at Sunnybrook Lanes did a great job in preparing for the event that saw 115 bowlers invade the center for their chance at claiming the title and their share of nearly $6,000.00 in scholarship money.

Defending boy’s champion, Jared Ball (Jackson, MI), was there making his first tournament of the season but did not make the cut to the top 24 to bowl match play. However, the competition was very strong on both the boy’s and girl’s side. The scoring pace started out a bit strong as there were a number of 250+ games shot early but in the end the consistency of making spares and keeping away from splits won out and our field for match play was set.

Hometown boy Adam Jablonski (Sterling Heights, MI) led the way for the boy’s posting a fine 1660 series for his 8 games followed by Trey Raynes (Wayne, MI) who shot 1658. Four other boys were able to conquer the challenge of the sport shot and average over 200 for the eight games of qualifying as well as our girl’s tournament leader Valerie Calberry (Brampton, Ont) who shot a fine 1615.

The field then bowled match play on Sunday and things shifted around as they always do. The biggest jump came from Tim Pfeifer (Cranberry Twp, PA) who went from 21st in qualifying to being our tournament leader, thanks in part to a high game of 288, going into step-ladders. Joining Pfeifer in the step-ladder finals were Raynes, Chris Creek (Zelienople, PA), Jablonski and Ryan Fuller (Rochester Hills, MI), who was making his very first appearance in step-ladders.

Fuller and Jablonski faced off in the first match and it was obvious they were both struggling with the lanes and possibly the pressure of being in the finals. Jablonski converted a couple of splits early on to help his cause and earn a win in the first match 177-166. Jablonski next faced Creeks, who had won already this season. Creeks started out fast with an early four bagger but open frames in the 9th and 10th gave Jablonski the room he needed to finish strong and win his second match 237-202. Next up was Raynes, who is bowling for Pikeville College, the strikes started to flow right away. Raynes opened with a split but then found the mark and threw the next four strikes while Jablonski hit four of the front five. In the end though it was an open frame in the 9th frame that would end Jablonski’s run and put Raynes in the finals 223-210. Pfeifer, who won this very event two years ago, was waiting for Raynes and looked confident during warm-ups taking only two of his allowed six practice balls. In a match that was what sport bowling is all about, making good shots and spares, it came down to the tenth frame when Raynes needed the first two strikes to win the match but after carrying the first one a stubborn ten pin gave Pfeifer his fourth MJMA title and second Sport Challenge win 182-178.

The ladies had their fill of excitement as well in their step-ladder finals. Felicia Goll (St Clair Shores, MI) was making her second straight appearance in the finals since returning to MJMA and was facing Bethan McGeary (New Kensington, PA). Mc Geary had won twice already this season but a couple of early opens created a bit more than she could overcome as Goll moved on to the semi-finals with a 186-167 win. Goll then faced off against one of the up and coming young bowlers in MJMA as Sarah Lokker (New Baltimore, MI) who is all of 14 years old, was waiting. Lokker started with a double and stayed clean the rest of the way through the match, Goll however had a couple of early misses and not even throwing five strike in a row to close the match could put her over the top as Lokker moved to the finals with a 203-192 victory. In the finals, Calberry and Lokker both went back and forth the whole way but an open in the seventh frame by Calberry gave Lokker the opening she needed and she slammed the door on her very first MJMA title staying clean in the match to win 208-198.

We also added a couple of USBC Junior Gold qualifiers from our event as Trey Raynes and Emily Witt (Grand Rapids, MI) each earned their spots in the July, 2008 event which will be held in Detroit, with Sunnybrook hosting the finals portion of the event.

Scholarship in this event is the second highest pay-out of the season, next to the championship event in Monroe. This year we handed out $6,150.00 in bowling scholarships and another $1,800.00 in cookie dough fund raiser scholarships. In all this weekend contributed nearly $8,000.00 to these bowlers’ college funds which brings our yearly total to over $25,000.00. We could not think of doing this without fabulous sponsors like Alro Steel and Brunswick Corporation. They have continued to support our organization over the years and we appreciate their contributions very much.

Our next event is the annual Adult-Junior event at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing, Michigan. This is one of our really fun events as each junior bowler competes with an adult partner to gain their share of scholarships and the coveted banner that signifies the champions. Sometimes, I think the adults want it more than the kids do. If you need information on this event, please check here or call Jerry Tarabek at 616-780-2095.

We want to wish all of our members, their families, our sponsors and our host centers a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Years. We are looking forward to seeing everyone next year, 2008, in Lansing on January 5th and 6th.