Menu ≡ ╳

Hot News

World Cup Excitement grows for the 55th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup By Paul Lane
Championships Korea dominates Medal Tally as World Junior Championships conclude in Paris
Championships Korea wins four out of five gold medals in the WJBC Arena Finals
Championships 2019 World Junior Bowling Championships – Semi-finalsts determined in Masters
Championships Korea and Mexico to bowl for the Team gold medal

Home » Navigation » PWBA » PWBA Tour » Shannon O’Keefe claims PWBA St. Petersburg Clearwater Open title

Shannon O’Keefe claims PWBA St. Petersburg Clearwater Open title

23 August, 2017

PWBA Tour

3453

Ads

Coming off a three-title season and then coaching her collegiate team to two national titles, Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, seemingly could do no wrong.

But bowling seems to have a way of challenging even the best players, and it took a little longer for O’Keefe to make her first television appearance of the 2017 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour season.

The top seed for the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open, O’Keefe (above) captured her fifth career PWBA title with a 202-200 victory over Colombia’s Clara Juliana Guerrero. The stepladder finals were televised Tuesday on CBS Sports Network.

When the final match reached the 10th frame, O’Keefe simply had to watch as Guerrero stepped up with an opportunity to take the title with two strikes and a nine-count. But Guerrero left the 4-6-7-10 combination and did not convert the spare.

That left O’Keefe needing a spare and nine pins to take the match, and she took advantage of the opening to win the event and, in the process, turn around a troubling season.

“It’s been a challenging year,” O’Keefe said. “I missed the very first cut by seven pins, was frustrated by that, then dug my heels in and just had to grind every week. Then, in the middle of the season, I missed back-to-back cuts and was really upset. I don’t think I have been that upset over bowling, ever.”

Her thoughts went from questioning what she was doing to possibly taking a week off and going home. Instead, her husband, Bryan (right), worked with her each round of the PWBA Orlando Open, including practice sessions, giving her one goal on which to focus.

“He said to exaggerate my pushaway, then work on keeping my elbow a little tighter at the bottom, then the next round was keep my left arm really stable,” said O’Keefe, who coaches the McKendree women’s bowling team during the school year. “By the end of the tournament, it’s the best I have felt throwing the ball in a year and a half. And that just snowballed into the rest of the season.”

Guerrero (left), who has battled injuries since late last year, also was making her first TV appearance of the season and was attempting to climb the stepladder as the No. 4 seed.

In the opening match, Guerrero struck on four of her first six shots to get past Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, 215-198.

Also making her first TV appearance was Giselle Poss (right) of Montgomery, Illinois, a 2016-2017 National Tenpin Coaches Association first-team All-American at Vanderbilt competing in just her fourth PWBA event.

Poss held a slim lead heading into the seventh frame, but back-to-back open frames – missing a 7-pin and failing to convert the more difficult 2-4-8-10 combination – cut short her bid to advance as Guerrero took a 235-214 victory to reach the title match.

The qualifying and match-play rounds of the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open took place July 6-8 at Seminole Lanes in Seminole, Florida. It was the second consecutive year Seminole Lanes hosted the tournament. The stepladder finals were one of three shows taped at Plano Super Bowl, in conjunction with the U.S. Women’s Open, for later broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

The finals of the PWBA Orlando Open aired Aug. 15, and the Nationwide PWBA Rochester Open finals will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Aug. 29 at 8 p.m. EDT.

Go to PWBA.com for more information about the PWBA Tour.

Shannon O’Keefe earns top seed at PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open
Leanne Hulsenberg gaining momentum heading into St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open
2017 PWBA Tour Schedule

From left to right: Shannon O’Keefe, Giselle Poss, Danielle McEwan and Clara Juliana Guerrero.

PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open

Seminole Lanes in Seminole, Fla., United States (July 6-8, 2017); was taped August 6 and will air Aug. 22 at 8.30 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network.

Championship Round:
1. Shannon O’Keefe, O’Fallon, Ill., 202 (1 game), $10,000
2. Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 650 (3 games), $5,000
3. Giselle Poss, Montgomery, Ill., 214 (1 game), $3,500
4. Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 198 (1 game), $3,000

Playoff Results:
First Match: No. 4 Guerrero vs. No. 3 McEwan, 215-198
Second Match: Guerrero def. No. 2 Poss, 235-214
Championship: No. 1 O’Keefe def. Guerrero, 202-200.

Herbert Bickel