Friends since their middle-school days in Bear Lake, Idaho, Teresa Singleton and Ronda Lutz were able to experience one of life's unexpected pleasures when they learned they had taken over first place in Division 3 Doubles at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships, presented by the Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus.

Singleton, with a 547 series (187, 174 and 186) and Lutz with 536 (185, 165 and 186) combined for a 1,083 pinfall to take the lead from Nebraskans Jamie and Connie Huyser, who had held first place in the division with 1,062,

The two 37-year-olds live in Montpelier and Paris respectively, about seven miles apart, and have bowled together for eight years at the Jolara Lanes in Montpelier. Their team is sponsored by the Ireland Bank, which won the city tournament last year.

Both women bowled well above their averages -151 for Singleton and 130 for Lutz - to move into their division's doubles lead. Lutz also shot a total 1,437 to take over fifth place in Division 4 All Events.

"We've been good friends a long time," said Lutz. "So I said, why don't we just go to Reno and have some fun and see what we can do. As it turned out, we knew we bowled well, way above our averages, so maybe we'd be into some money somewhere."

But neither woman realized how well they had performed until after they'd left Reno and were contacted at home the next day by USBC officials. "We were very surprised," said Singleton. "It may not hold up, but it's definitely an incentive to return to the nationals."

While Singleton admits to throwing a pretty good hook, Lutz says she "just throws a plain old straight ball, which just happened to go straight where I wanted it that night in Reno."


Kegel is the official lane maintenance supplier for the USBC.



Top five division leaders with hometowns and pinfall:

Team (946 average and over)
1, Strike 3, Sun City, Ariz., 3,021. 2, C&S Bowling Supply I, Plainfield, Ill., 2,946. 3, Laurel Bowl, Johnson City, N.Y., 2,917. 4, Miche's Mob, Irvine, Calif., 2,877. 5, Lucky Ducks #5, Mohnton, Pa., 2,869.

Doubles (379 average and over)
1, Carrie Meares, Seneca, S.C./Lisa Wagner, Duluth, Ga., 1,331. 2, Dianna Innerst, San Jose, Calif./Cathy Johnston, Folsom, Calif., 1,274. 3, Cherylee Secl-Cross, Marne, Mich./Carole Morgan, Wyoming, Mich., 1,263. 4, Bonnie Vaughan, Englewood, Ohio/Rae Parks, Vandalia, Ohio, 1,234. 5, Nicole Van Deventer/Laurie Clark, Sioux Falls, S.D., 1,231.

Singles (190 average and over)
1, Shannon Duplantis, New Orleans, 707. 2 (tie), Valerie Carrillo, Montebello, Calif., and Dawn Convay, Las Vegas, 691. 4, Lisa Wagner, Duluth, Ga., 683. 5, Alisha Caballero, Riverside, Calif., 678.

All Events (190 average and over)
1, Lisa Wagner, Duluth, Ga., 2,097. 2, Lisa Stevens, St. Charles, Ill., 1,991. 3, Nikki Lunsford, Plainfield, Ill., 1,967. 4, Cally Hall, Pierre, S.D., 1,924. 5, Tracy Meyer, Loveland, Colo., 1,902.

Team (846-945 average)
1, Village Bar II, Omaha, Neb., 2,842. 2, Cavalettes 1, Sacramento, Calif., 2,811. 3, The Queen Bs 1, Loveland, Colo., 2,807. 4, BeauBien Street Saloon, Troy, Mich., 2,781. 5, Cruizin', White City, Ore., 2,759.

Doubles (339-378 average)
1, Pam Schulz, Longview, Wash./Valery Hubbard, Kelso, Wash., 1,264. 2, Irma Day, Helotes, Texas/Julie Howard, San Antonio, Texas, 1,223. 3, Deidre Hicks, Morris, Ill./Joyce Underwood, Marseilles, Ill., 1,215. 4, Janet McLeod, Redding, Calif./Susan Fuller, Cottonwood, Calif., 1,196. 5, Darci Roberts, Canby, Ore./Sandra Currie, Dundee, Ore., 1,181.

Singles (170-189 average)
1, Kristine Kiesling, Las Vegas, Nev., 686. 2, Wynn Brandon, Reno, Nev., 676. 3, Paula Hallead, East Wenatchee, Wash., 674. 4, Casea Little, Longview, Wash., 670. 5 (tie), Dawn Jessie, Atlanta and Jean Almaria, Lexington, Ky., 662.

All Events (170-189 average)
1, Maika Winkler, Antelope, Calif., 1,856. 2, Holly Fett, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,852. 3, Kristine Kiesling, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,804. 4, Wynn Brandon, Reno, Nev., 1,802. 5, Jackie Brantley, Littleton, Colo., 1,800.

Team (746-845 average)
1, Jax 1, Jacksonville, Fla., 2,734. 2, Centennial Lanes 2, Hays, Kan., 2,658. 3, Team 20022, White Bear Lake, Minn., 2,640. 4, Family and Friends #1, Rohnert Park, Calif., 2,633. 5, Camas Lanes, Grangeville, Idaho, 2,628.

Doubles (299-338 average)
1, Sharon Cassidy, San Mateo, Calif./Elaine Van Otten, Pacifica, Calif., 1,171. 2, Jeanna Brown, Bloomington, Ill./Joan Kaufman, Heyworth, Ill., 1,154. 3, Deborah Nowak-Frick, Walkerton, Ind./Pat Dukarm, South Bend, Ind., 1,141. 4 (tie), Janet Bowcutt, Henderson, Nev./Shelley Hall, Long Beach, Calif. and Becky Compton/Deborah Konwinski, Kentwood, Mich., 1,135.

Singles (150-169 average)
1, Judith Kaufman, Winslow, Ill., 620. 2, Julie Andres, American Canyon, Calif., 619. 3 (tie), Joyce Moss, Columbus, Ohio and Linda Urbanek, Poway, Calif., 616. 5, Bonnie Magnussen, Wyoming, Ill., 615.

All Events (150-169 average)
1, Shelley Hall, Long Beach, Calif., 1,774. 2, Nikita Williams, Oakland, Calif., 1,767. 3, Pearl Cates-Bullock, Durham, N.C., 1,735. 4, Cheryl Blosch, South Wayne, Wis., 1,705. 5, Ruth Rapacz, Maple Grove, Minn., 1,695.

Team (651-745 average)
1, Idaho Pick-up Gals, Pocatello, Idaho, 2,051. 2, Just Marked, Oakland, Calif., 2,458. 3, D.C. Rollers Team 3, Brentwood, Md., 2,449. 4, The Happy Hookers, Mesa, Ariz., 2,418. 5, Cutting Edge, Glencoe, Minn., 2,417. 5,

Doubles (261-298 average)
1, Ronda Lutz, Paris, Idaho/Teresa Singleton, Montpelier, Idaho, 1,083. 2, Jamie Huyser, Kearney, Neb./Connie Huyser, Johnson Lake, Neb., 1,062. 3, Loretta Haynes, Sissonville, W. Va./Lori Derrick, Charleston, W. Va., 1,058. 4, Sharon Schutts, South St. Paul, Minn./Barb Strus, McGregor, Minn., 1,053. 5, Jeanierose Tabulina, Tumwater, Wash./Lola Bernard, Tacoma, Wash., 1,052.

Singles (131-149 average)
1, Nancy Galinat, Harrold, S.D., 638. 2, Robin McGinnis, Petrolia, Pa., 598. 3, Carmen Trader, Definance, Iowa, 593. 4, Billie Crane, Montpelier, Idaho, 589. 5, Tisha Martin, Seattle, 586.

All Events (131-149 average)
1, Jennifer Reed, Hamilton, Va., 1,680. 2, Stephanie Dowd, El Paso, Texas, 1,644. 3, Veronica Dugenio, Branchburg, N.J., 1,608. 4, Ginger Engel, Pahrump, Nev., 1,601. 5, Nancy Galinat, Harrold, S.D., 1,592.

Team (650 average and under)
1, Bear Nasty, Monticello, Minn., 2,187. 2, North Idaho Crushing II, St. Maries, Idaho, 2,111. 3, Tumbleweed Lanes, Ness City, Kan., 2,096. 4, Lundeen Ford, Annandale, Minn., 2,091. 5, Shelton-Christmas Town, Shelton, Wash., 2,079.

Doubles (260 average and under)
1, Kathy Belmer, Manteca, Calif./Regina Antunes, Stockton, Calif., 973. 2, Jenna Cameron/Debra Ingram, Springdale, Ark., 962. 3, Sharon Carroll/Dee Carroll, Newport, Wash., 945. 4, Lorna Robinson/Holly Rybensky, Omaha, Neb., 941. 5, Meaghan Bedwell, Jourdanton, Texas/Ann Harvey, Pleasonton, Texas, 926.

Singles (130 average and under)
1, Barbara Dynes, New Castle, Ind., 593. 2, Rose Postle, Rice Lake, Wis., 554. 3, Connie Monk, Yelm, Wash., 549. 4, Shelly Bloch, Ramsey, Minn., 538. 5, Ashley Rivera, Kingsville, Texas, 536.

All Events (130 average and under)
1, Connie Monk, Yelm, Wash., 1,481. 2, Michele Burzinski, Soldotna, Alaska, 1,447. 3, Karen Clements, Blair, Neb., 1,443. 4, Barbara Wade, Nampa, Idaho, 1,442. 5, Ronda Lutz, Paris, Idaho, 1,437.