JULY 2013 -
7
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
Announcement of winners made at the 2013
Summer Games!
Breanna is the younger sister of our athlete JJ
Smith. Breanna has logged in over 150 volun-
teer hours with Humboldt County Special Olym-
pics. She is an active coach in basketball, bocce
ball, aquatics, softball and bowling. Breanna
has incredible leadership skills and is well re-
spected by all of our athletes and coaches. Breanna is a very responsible young lady. Not only
does she help coach, but she helps organizes the team travel to the Regional Tournaments and is
our official photographer. There is no job that Breanna will not do, when called upon.
Breanna attends High School at College of the Redwoods, and is concurrently enrolled college
student. Her GPA is 3.7. She is graduating this year with her high school diploma and with 26 cred-
its completed in college toward her AA degree in psychology with a transfer to Humboldt State Uni-
versity to apply toward her BA degree in psychology. Her career goal is to become a board certified
behavior analyst.
She also works approximately 25 hours per week at her job. Her place of employment is Pretzel
Maker. When she turns 18 this summer she is hoping to gain employment working as a care pro-
vider in the special needs community. Some of her personal hobbies are photography, piano, writing
stories and poetry. Her newest interest is making movies with friends. She loves animals and plans
to also volunteer at the local animal shelter when she turns 18.
Breanna lives with her Mother, Harmony, who is also a Humboldt County Special Olympics Volun-
teer-Coach; her brother JJ ( James) a Humboldt County Special Olympics Athlete, and her Dad,
James.
It's with great honor that Humboldt County nominates Breanna Smith is the Special Olympics
2013 Volunteer of the Year in the Youth Category. Congratulations, Brea.
Bronze Conference To Be
Held In Salinas
Coaches attending this 2-1/2 day program will receive
training that will prepare them to work with intermediate level
bowlers. This training also is designed to supply individuals
with the tools and information to pursue coaching as a profes-
sion. This course continues the development of the four es-
sential keys of bowling, including the physical game, lane
play, equipment and mental game. Various tools such as
drills, videotaping and video analysis are introduced. On-lane
training includes participation in the process of giving a lesson
to a bowler.
August 16 - 18, 2013
Madonna del Sasso School
20 Santa Teresa Way
Salinas, CA 93906
Valley Center Bowl
1081 S Main St
Salinas, CA 93901
Hotel Info:
Motel 6
6110 MONTEREY HWY
GILROY, CA 95020
Phone: 408-842-6061
Fax: 408-842-6020
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL: 1-800-514-
BOWL [2695] Ext.8969
PRE-REQUISITES: RVP Approval; Level I
Champions Celebrate As 2013 USBC Open
Championships Ends
RENO, Nev. - When Lodge Lanes Too of Orlando, Fla., rolled the highest team score in 110
years of United States Bowling Congress Open Championships history, team captain John Gaines
was excited, but he wanted to save the celebration for when the feat also meant the team title at the
2013 event.
The 46-year-old right-hander now can revel in the moment as the conclusion of this year's USBC
Open Championships at the National Bowling Stadium on Sunday earned him his fourth win on the
championship lanes.
Lodge Lanes Too opened its team event April 2 with a 1,206 game and added 1,167 and 1,165
for a 3,538 winning total. Bruegger's Bagels of Albany, N.Y., previously held the team record with
3,537, rolled in Tulsa, Okla., in 1993.
Former Team USA member Vernon Peterson led the way for Lodge Lanes Too with a 772 series.
Team USA member John Janawicz secured the record with three strikes in his final frame on the
way to a 752 set. Gaines added 681 and was followed by 1987 Team All-Events champion Mitch
Jabczenski (669) and Professional Bowlers Association Tour titlist Scott Newell (664).
The win is the third for Janawicz, the 2004 Regular Singles and Regular All-Events champion,
and the first trip to the winner's circle for Peterson and Newell.
"It has been a long few months with a lot of close calls from some really good teams, and now
that I'm older and have been there before, I have a pretty good grasp on the title and truly can un-
derstand and appreciate what it means," said Gaines, one of 43 bowlers in history with four or more
Open Championships titles. "But the record, and knowing we bowled the highest score in history,
really hasn't sunk in yet. I don't think it will until I see the banner hanging up next year."
The end of the tournament's 125-day run meant redemption for former Team USA member Erik
Vermilyea, a 2010 Regular Doubles runner-up, who helped his team to the Team All-Events crown
this year with a 10,247 total, the 10th-highest in Open Championships history.
The 29-year-old right-hander finished with a 2,097 all-events total and was joined by Steve No-
vak (2,153), PBA champion Anthony LaCaze (2,050), Matthew Tuckfield (2,046) and former Junior
Team USA member Jeffrey Mersch, who bowled doubles with Vermilyea in 2010 (1,901).
"This is such an amazing feeling," Vermilyea said. "We led for a month in 2010 and really thought
that score was going to win. To come back like this and be able to share this moment with the whole
team is unbelievable."
Brian Burkhardt of St. Louis and Rick Gatlin of Eureka,
Mo., each turned in clutch performances late in their doubles
set May 21, which included a split conversion from Burkhardt
and seven consecutive strikes from Gatlin, to take home the
Regular Doubles title this year with a 1,440 total.
The two have bowled doubles together all but once during
their 11-year careers at the Open Championships, and now,
their names will be side by side in the record books. Gatlin led
the way with a 736 series, while Burkhardt contributed 704.
"I thought this day would never get here," said Gatlin, a 53-
year-old right-hander. "We tried our best to track it and watch
when the notable bowlers were out there, and a couple of
times, it got scary, but we prevailed. It's something I never
expected, and it is an amazing feeling."
Team USA member John Szczerbinski of North Tona-
wanda, N.Y., held on to win Regular All-Events with a 2,228
total, capping off a successful year that included a win at the
2013 USBC Team USA Trials. He also was a member of the
New York City WTT KingPins team that recently won the
inaugural PBA League Elias Cup.
"It has been a long wait filled with ups and downs, but to
have my score hold up is a pretty tremendous feeling," said
Szczerbinski, who had 789 in singles, 777 in team and 662 in
doubles. "Not a lot of people get to win an eagle, especially at
such a young age, so it's really special."
Szczerbinski, a 25-year-old right-hander, nearly claimed
the Regular Singles title as well. His 789 series topped the
standings for almost two months, before 20-year-old Zeke
Bayt of Westerville, Ohio, posted a 795 singles set on June
16.
Bayt put together games of 288, 268 and 239, which in-
cluded a dramatic final frame, where he needed five pins to
secure at least a tie for the lead. He knocked down seven pins
to end his second Open Championships appearance on a
(Continued on page 15)
Four-time PBA50 Tour
Champion Barry Gurney
Dies At 71
SEATTLE – Four-time Professional Bowlers Association
PBA50 Tour champion Barry Gurney of West Hills, Calif., died
late Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.
Gurney, who joined the PBA in 1991, won his first Senior
Tour title in 1992 in the Lansing (Mich.) PBA Senior Open. He
went on to win the Naples Senior Open in 1994, the Rocky
Mountain Open in 1995 and the Boise Open in 1999.
In addition to his PBA50/Senior Tour titles he also won three
PBA50 Regional titles and one regular PBA Regional title.
He had competed on the PBA50 Tour as recently as the
2012 season when he bowled in seven tournaments and had a
best finish of 16th in the PBA Senior Northern California Clas-
sic.
Prior to joining the Senior Tour, Gurney worked as a heavy
equipment operator for the city of Glendale, Calif.
According to a January 2012 examiner.com article on Gur-
ney, he was inspired to bowl PBA competition because of
friends who questioned his ability to make a second career as
a professional bowler.
"My motivating factor (for joining the tour) was the people I
was hanging with," Gurney said. "They all asked, 'Why? What
are you going to do with the senior tour? You're a good bowler,
but you're not that good.' I wanted to prove them wrong.‖
