After failing to qualify to compete in the USBC Junior Gold Championships last year,
Daniel Spink of Florissant, Mo., traveled to the event to watch his sister bowl, wondering what could have been. Spink moved on from dreaming of his missed opportunity last year to seizing it this year as he shot 300 Thursday in the semifinals to take the lead after 30 games at Sunnybrook Lanes in suburban Detroit. Spink's total of 6,641, an average of 221, leads Andrew Koff of Miami by 72 pins. Junior Team USA member
Ricki Williams of Wichita, Kan., leads the girls division with 6,268, an average of 208.
Kristie Petravich of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Geoffrey Young of Denton, Texas, beat a field of the best youth bowlers in the country Friday to win U.S. Junior Amateur titles at the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships. The championships featured nearly 1,500 bowlers from across the country competing for $100,000 in scholarships, individual titles and spots on Junior Team USA. The top four finishers in each division earned automatic spots on Junior Team USA 2009 with the National Selection Committee picking two boys and two girls to join the team.
Heading into the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships, Liz Seibel of Hellertown, Pa., has paid special attention to becoming a more consistent bowler. The work she's put in culminated with a perfect game Tuesday night. Seibel became just the fourth female to shoot a perfect game in the 11-year history of the Junior Gold Championships, recording the 300 in the first game of the second Round of qualifying at Sterling Lanes. She finished her 18-game qualifying total Wednesday with 3,704, an average of 205 per game.
Michelle Carcagente (l.) pocketed her big first-round total of 1,371 in the USBC Junior Gold Championships at Sterling Lanes, which has proven to be the highest scoring of the three bowling centers being used for qualifying this week. The boys leader, Tommy Smith of DesPlains, Ill., also competed at Sterling Lanes on Monday and shot 1,424. Qualifying continues Tuesday and Wednesday with the top 105 males of 1020 and 57 females of 471 including all ties after 18 games will advance to the semifinals.
As the players around him stopped bowling, Adam Chase of Seaford, N.Y., felt the pressure begin to grow. With nothing but strikes to begin the first game of the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships, Chase was the center of attention. Three clutch, flush strikes later, Chase celebrated his first 300 game on USBC Sport Bowling lane conditions and was off to a perfect start to his opening qualifying round at Sterling Lanes in suburban Detroit on Monday. He finished the six-game block with 1,316, an average of 219 per game. After 18 games of qualifying, the top 105 males and 57 females (including all ties) will advance to the semifinals.
Since winning last year's United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships, Jenny Brown of DeLand, Fla., and Adam Martinez of San Antonio have been on a journey any fellow youth bowler would envy. The pair have received advice from the best coaches in the world, competed alongside the best bowlers in the country on national television in Bowling's Clash of Champions and are now preparing for a stretch of the most important tournaments they have ever competed in. 
For the third consecutive year, the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships will feature a sold-out field. All 1,728 spots have been sold for the event, which will be conducted July 5-11 at three bowling centers in suburban Detroit. Held on USBC Sport Bowling lane conditions, the Junior Gold Championships, which is an individual competition, will feature bowlers from across the country. The competitors will battle for spots on USBC Junior Team USA as well as $100,000 in scholarship money.
