Rafael Medina (pictured right) and Alicia Marcano (left), both Venezuela, took the lead in the American Zone Ranking Final after the first block of eight games on the short pattern Thursday at Cibao Bowling Center in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

Medina had a slow start with 188 but rebounded with 245, 213 and 226. He closed out the 8-game block with 249, 268, 242 and 259 (1018) to take the lead in the men's division with 1890 pinfall total and an average of 236.25.

Alejandro Reyna (left), Costa Rica, had eight games over 200 including high games of 256 and 257 to land in second place with 1824 (228.00). Another four players cracked the 1700-bar.

Mark Buffa (right), Canada, was third with 1751 with Minuer Dawarara, Puerto Rico, in fourth with 1725. Dawarara started with a 137 game but recovered with the field-best 290 in game. Federico Reyna, Costa Rica, was fifth with 1716.

Places 6, 7 and 8 belonged to bowlers from the host country, Arnaldo Mercado (1712), Fidel Marchena (1679) and José Luis Infante (1658).

Chris Viale (left), the sole U.S. American in the field, was tied with last year's Ranking Final winner Lucas Legnani, Argentina, for 9th place with 1652.

In the women's division, Alicia Marcano had a pair of 257s in her 1839 series on the short pattern to take the lead with an average of 229.80.

Former World Games champion Sofia Granda (left), Guatemala, was second with 1779 (222.28) including a pair of 268s. Third place belonged to Alicia's sister Karen Marcano (right), who had seven games between 202 and 234 and a 1719 series (214.88).

Another four of the 21 women averaged over 200. Edissa Andrade, Panama, was fourth with 1688, with Rocio Restrepo, Colombia in fifth, 1659.

2007 Ranking Final winner Aumi Guerra (right), Dominican Republic, was sixth with 1650 and Yoselin Leon, Puerto Rico, was seventh with 1627. Rounding out the top 8 was Annie Henriquez, Dominican Republic, with 1595, an average of 199.25.

The American Zone Ranking Final 2009 concludes the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON) ranking season. Since 2006, PABCON, formerly the WTBA American Zone, is divided geographically into five regions, North, Central, Caribbean, South 1 and South 2.

The top 12 men and the top 12 women from the 2008 rankings in each of the five regions qualified for the American Zone Ranking Final to determine the top 8 men and 8 women, who will represent America in the 2009 World Ranking Masters in Naples, Italy.

The tournament drew 36 men and 21 women, who will bowl 24 games over three days, 8 games on the short oil pattern on Thursday, eight games on the long oil pattern on Friday and eight games on dual lane condition (short/long) on Saturday. The 24-game total will determine the final standings.