Earnest, Young start PABCON Youth Championships with gold in U-20 Singles

09/24/08

El Salvador

Castillo, Cardona claim Singles titles in under-16 division

2008PYGeoffreyYoung.jpg 2008PYJosieEarnest2.jpg Josie Earnest of Vandalia, Ill., and Geoffrey Young of Denton, Texas, won gold medals in U-20 Singles Monday at the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships at Galaxy Bowling Center in San Salvador, El Salvador.

In the opening event of the PABCON Youth Championships, Young averaged 248 over six games, totaling 1,488 to win the boys title. Earnest overcame a slow start to win the girls title with 1,263, an average of 210.5.

"It really feels great because I threw the ball well all day," said Young, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion. "Not only did I get to bowl for the United States, I was able to bring home a gold medal. This means the world to me and it proves that all the work I've done leading up to this tournament has paid off."

Competing on the first of two boys squads, Young set the score to beat with games of 247, 226, 244, 278, 248 and 245. He finished the final game with seven consecutive strikes, breaking up splits for strikes on his first two shots in the 10th frame.

"I really got lucky on those shots to strike," Young said. "I just wanted to throw the best shots I could so I would have a chance to strike. When I let the first one go, I said 'Oh boy, here we go.' I really didn't think I blew it, though. I was just hoping to leave something I could make for a spare."

Young beat out Michael Piccari of Venezuela, who took the silver with 1,430, and Daniel Enrique Melo of Colombia, who had 1,364 to win bronze.

2008PYChristineBator2.jpg Earnest, meanwhile, started Singles with a 155 game before rebounding with 225, 214, 212, 268 and 189 and edged fellow teammate Christine Bator (pictured) of Warren, Mich., who took silver with 1,226. Anggie Ramirez of Colombia earned bronze with 1,212.

"I always tend to bowl better when my back is against the wall," said Earnest, who competes collegiately at Vanderbilt. "I think it was more of a motivational factor for me rather than dwelling on what happened the first game. You just have to learn from it and move on."

The 13 boys and the 11 girls in the U-16 division bowled two five-game series in Singles. Juan Pablo Castillo, Guatemala, and Neishka Cardona, Puerto Rico, who led the field after the first block on Monday, captured the gold medals.

Castillo added a 986 on Tuesday to the 1045 from Monday to win the boys title with 2031, an average of 203.1. Rodolfo Madriz, Costa Rica, remained in second place to win silver with 1984. Andre Fors, Mexico,  leaped from sixth to third behind the highest second block of 1012 to capture the bronze medal with 1933.

Cardona, who had a comfortable 100-pin lead after shooting 1041 in the first block, cruised to victory in the girls division with an 822 series and an 1863 pinfall total, an average of 186,3. Alejandra Barreto, Colombia, moved from fourth to second on Tuesday to secure the silver medal with 1831. Valeria Corpeño, Mexico, maintained her third place with 1828.

Juliana Franco, Colombia, finished with a 221 game and the highest series of 1001, but fell 8 pins short of the bronze medal to land in fourth place with 1820. Kristie López, Puerto Rico, was another three pins behind in fifth place.

U-16 Boys Singles - Final Standings after 10 Games





U-16 Girls Singles - Final Standings after 10 Games





U-20 Boys Singles - Final Standings after 6 Games





U-20 Girls Singles - Final Standings after 6 Games





U-16 Boys Singles - Standings after the first 5-game Block





U-16 Girls Singles - Standings after the first 5-game Block