Before the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour went on hiatus in 2003, Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, spent just under two years learning and growing as a competitor new to the tour.

Since the return of the PWBA Tour in 2015, the 12-time Team USA member has been making up for lost time and earned the No. 1 seed for the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open this week at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska.

PWBA Lincoln Open finalists: L-R O’Keefe, Guerrero, Johnson and Ellis.

O’Keefe led throughout the event and averaged more than 219 for 24 games Friday and Saturday to claim the top seed for the televised finals, which will be taped June 26 at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and air Tuesday, July 12 on CBS Sports Network.

Clara Juliana Guerrero (left), a Colombian native who lives in Pflugerville, Texas, earned the No. 2 seed for the show followed by reigning PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson (right) of Cheektowaga, New York (No. 3) and April Ellis of Wichita, Kansas, who qualified fourth and will make her first PWBA television appearance.

The Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open will be the second television appearance of the season for O’Keefe, who earned the No. 2 seed for the Nationwide PWBA Sonoma County Open, which airs June 14 at 9 p.m. Eastern, also on CBS Sports Network.

The 37-year-old right-hander is thankful for the opportunity to compete each week and doesn’t take it for granted.

“I’m just so grateful,” O’Keefe said. “I bowled on the defunct tour for a year and a half, and I was very raw. I had only been bowling for two years when I went out there, but I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to experience it.

“Now, I’m just so grateful to have a tour to bowl on. When I get frustrated, I just need to take a step back and put it into perspective because I’m so blessed and so lucky to be able to do what I’m doing on the coaching side and to be able to bowl all summer.”

O’Keefe is the head women’s coach at McKendree University and sees some differences in her mental approach and performance this season in comparison to 2015. Those largely are in part to her interactions with the many student-athletes she coaches, while continuing to use them as inspiration during competition.

“The difference this year really involves my kids,” O’Keefe said. “I think about them so much. And the things that Bryan (O’Keefe) and I are teaching them – one shot at a time, if it’s a bad shot or you miss a spare, let it go and move on.

“Yes, I get frustrated, and I still make bad shots, but the one thing that has been our constant at McKendree is just keep coming. No matter what, you never give up, you just keep coming. And that’s the epitome of mental toughness. So, if I’m going to expect my kids to do it than I need to live it and breathe it.”

Guerrero went 5-1 in match play Saturday and led Group B with a 5,284 pinfall total to claim the second spot in the televised stepladder finals. Johnson and Ellis advanced through the unique dual stepladder portion of the event to join O’Keefe and Guerrero on the show.

In the Group B stepladder, Diana Zavjalova (left) of Latvia and Stefanie Johnson (right) of Grand Prairie, Texas, tied at 207 during their match, forcing a one-ball roll-off to determine a winner. Zavjalova went first and knocked down five pins, while Johnson struck on her offering to move on to the final match.

In a battle of 2015 award winners, Liz Johnson rolled seven consecutive strikes in frames two through eight en route to defeating Stefanie Johnson, the 2015 PWBA Rookie of the Year, 258-200.

Liz Johnson, who won the PWBA Las Vegas Open earlier in the season, will be looking for her second title of the year.

In Group A’s opening match, Ellis filled 20 pins in the 10th frame to defeat Colombian Rocio Restrepo (left) of Louisville, Ohio, 226-222. In the deciding game, Ellis stepped up in the final frame and delivered a strike on her first shot to defeat Sandra Gongora (right) of Mexico, 188-176, setting up her PWBA TV debut.

“This is amazing,” said Ellis, while holding back tears of joy. “I had some self-doubt in the past, but I never lost hope that I could get to this point. There are some amazing women out here, so to come out and do this is just incredible.”

Saturday’s competition kicked off with a six-game block that narrowed the field from the 32 cashers to the top 12 players for round-robin match play.

The match-play finalists were split into two groups, each featuring six players. Each group bowled six games of match play, including a final position round, to determine the top seeds and advancers to each group stepladder final.

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PWBA Lincoln Open – Cashers’ Round

Players with position, hometown and 18-game total; top 12 advance

1, Shannon O’Keefe, O’Fallon, Ill., 4,029
2, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 3,876
3, Sandra Gongora, Mexico, 3,873
4, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,860
5, Rocio Restrepo, Louisville, Ohio, 3,826
6, Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,822
7, April Ellis, Wichita, Kan., 3,762
8, Stefanie Johnson, Grand Prairie, Texas, 3,752
9 (tie), Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, and Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3,730
11, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Keller, Texas, 3,717
12, Jennifer Higgins*, Westerville, Ohio, 3,707

*Higgins defeated Sin Li Jane in a one-game roll-off, 197-192.

Missed Cut:

13, Sin Li Jane, Malaysia, 3,707, $1,300
14, Esther Cheah, Malaysia, 3,685, $1,200
15, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,682, $1,200
16, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3,681, $1,200
17, Nora Lyana Norkamal, Malaysia, 3,664, $1,200
18, Amanda Greene, Romney, W.Va., 3,663, $1,200
19, Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb., 3,661, $1,200
20, Kayla Bandy, Salisbury, Md., 3,641, $1,200
21, Summer Jasmin, Beckley, W.Va., 3,640, $1,200
22, Sharon Koh, Malaysia, 3,636, $1,200
23, Cassandra Leuthold, Lincoln, Neb., 3,627, $1,200
24, Natasha Roslan, Malaysia, 3,617, $1,200
25, Gabriella Mayfield, Lake Isabella, Calif., 3,614, $1,200
26, Natalie Goodman, O’Fallon, Ill., 3,603, $1,200
27, Lindsay Boomershine, Perry, Utah, 3,585, $1,200
28, Anggie Ramirez Perea, Austin, Texas, 3,577, $1,200
29, Liz Kuhlkin, Schenectady, N.Y., 3,576, $1,200
30, Syaidatul Afifah, Malaysia, 3,563, $1,200
31, Mariana Ayala, Euless, Texas, 3,551, $1,200
32, T’Nia Falbo, Greensburg, Pa., 3,522, $1,200

PWBA Lincoln Open – Match Play Results

Players with position, hometown, match play record and 24-game total, including bonus pins. The top qualifier in each group will earn an automatic spot in the stepladder finals, with seeding being determined by total pins. The second, third and fourth qualifiers in each group will advance to a group stepladder final.

Group A
1, Shannon O’Keefe, O’Fallon, Ill., 3-3, 5,348
(earns No. 1 seed for stepladder based on total pinfall)
2, Sandra Gongora, Mexico, 3-3, 5,185
3, Rocio Restrepo, Louisville, Ohio, 4-2, 5,155
4, April Ellis, Wichita, Kan., 2-4, 5,036
5, Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, 3-3, 4,977 (eliminated; earns $1,600)
6, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Keller, Texas, 3-3, 4,971 (eliminated; earns $1,600)

Group A Stepladder
Semifinal: Ellis def. Restrepo, 226-222
(Restrepo finishes tied for seventh; earns $1,900)
Final: Ellis def. Gongora, 188-176
(Ellis earns No. 4 seed for stepladder based on average; Gongora finishes tied for fifth; earns $2,100)

Group B
1, Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas, 5-1, 5,284
(earns No. 2 seed for stepladder based on total pinfall)
2, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3-3, 5,252
3, Stefanie Johnson, Grand Prairie, Texas, 4-2, 5,244
4, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 1-5, 5,049
5, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3-3, 5,003 (eliminated; earns $1,600)
6, Jennifer Higgins, Westerville, Ohio, 2-4, 4,884 (eliminated; earns $1,600)

Group B Stepladder
Semifinal: S. Johnson def. Zavjalova, 10-5 in roll-off after a 207-207 tie
(Zavjalova finishes tied for seventh; earns $1,900)
Final: L. Johnson def. S. Johnson, 258-200
(L. Johnson earns No. 3 seed for stepladder based on average; S. Johnson finishes tied for fifth; earns $2,100)

Televised Stepladder Finals
(Will be taped June 26; will air July 12 on CBS Sports Network)
Match No. 1: L. Johnson vs. Ellis
Match No. 2: Guerrero vs. Match No. 1 winner
Final: O’Keefe vs. Match No. 2 winner