Indianapolis’ Helen Kidwell and Bonnie Anderson of Kingsland, Texas, each celebrated a participation milestone this week, joining the 50-Year Club at the 2018 United States Bowling Congress Women’s Championships.

Kidwell (featured photo) made her milestone appearance at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada, on June 16, and Anderson made her 50th appearance June 19. Each received a plaque, chevron and necklace to commemorate their longevity at the event.

Kidwell, 89, started her journey at the 1967 event in Rochester, New York, and a highlight of her career was helping her hometown win the bid to host the 1975 USBC Women’s Championships, which was announced during the 1974 event in Houston.

“I was a director for the women’s organization for more than 10 years and traveled with the tournament,” said Kidwell, a member of the Indianapolis USBC Hall of Fame and the 2017 Irene Wiese Award of Appreciation winner.

“I was overjoyed when it was announced that the tournament was coming to my hometown. The Woman Bowler magazine came and took our picture. It was a black and white photo. We all had hats on, and I still have that magazine.”

Anderson (right), 77, bowled her first Women’s Championships at the 1966 event in New Orleans, and she’s been an annual participant since 1972. Anderson enjoyed her first trip to the tournament so much that her team quickly decided to make it a yearly tradition.

“We had so much fun,” said Anderson, a member of the Thompson Falls Hall of Fame. “I didn’t have 50 years as a goal. My goal was to show up the next year and have fun.”

A total of nine bowlers joined the 50-Year Club at the 2018 event. Joining Kidwell and Anderson were Joani Nelsen and Evelyn Meier of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; USBC Hall of Famer Annese Dunleavy of Boynton Beach, Florida; Ann Keerbs of Spirit Lake, Iowa; Phyl Knoll of Hawthorne, California; Carolyn Leifheit of DeKalb, Illinois; and Eva Lou Rhoads of Englewood, Florida.

Scores heat up in Sapphire, Amethyst Divisions at National Bowling Stadium

Three lead changes took place this week at the 2018 USBC Women’s Championships.

Kimberly St. Romain (pictured above) of Baytown, Texas, took over the top spot in Sapphire All-Events on June 21 with a 1,591 total. Canada’s Carol Quesnel previously led with 1,585.

St. Romain rolled sets of 572 in singles, 519 in doubles and 500 in team to get to the lead. Her singles set, which included games of 207, 177 and 188, also helped her into third place in Sapphire Singles. Jennifer Williamson of Stafford, Virginia, leads with 582.

Peggy Burchard (left) of Sycamore, Illinois, improved each game during her singles set June 16 to take the Amethyst Singles lead with 549. Carolyn Rice of Casa Grande, Arizona, previously held the top spot with 542. Burchard, making her 28th Women’s Championships appearance, rolled games of 166, 180 and 203.

Mary Pierson (right) of Hastings, Minnesota, weathered some rough travel conditions on her way to Reno to take the All-Events lead in Amethyst on June 18 with a 1,501 total. Vickie Hensley of Mineral Wells, Texas, had held the lead with 1,491.

Rain and thunder caused Pierson and her teammates to miss their initial flight, but she arrived in time to post sets of 533 in singles, 503 in team and 465 in doubles. Her singles set also moved her into fifth place in Amethyst Singles.

Sapphire All-Events includes bowlers with entering averages of 145-159, while Amethyst Singles and All-Events features competitors with entering averages of 130-144.

A look ahead

Less than two weeks remain at the 2018 USBC Women’s Championships.

The 2018 event, which kicked off April 19, will have its final squad July 1 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

For more information on the Women’s Championships, click here.

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2018 USBC Women’s Championships Team Results

Top 5 division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Division 1 – Diamond
(For bowlers with combined averages of 725 and above)
1, Golden Approach Pro Shop (Rebecca Whiting, Rebekah Martin, Kelly Belzeski, Shannon Pluhowsky), Dayton, Ohio, 2,703. 2, Ballard vs. the Big “C”, Keller, Texas, 2,597. 3, Storm Nation, Brigham City, Utah, 2,586. 4, Striking Expectations LV, Las Vegas, 2,582. 5, Husker Shox, Las Vegas, 2,555.

Ruby
(For bowlers with combined averages of 650-724)
1, TTC Ladies 1 (Gail Gilchrist, Willetta Allen, Michelle Ball, Angela Pride), Alta Loma, Calif., 2,176. 2, Dolls with Bowling Balls, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 2,126. 3, PPBCs Gals, Torrance, Calif., 2,112. 4, Sooner Twisters 8, Norman, Okla., 2,090. 5, CHOP CITY, Chicago, 2,071.

Emerald
(For bowlers with combined averages of 575-649)
1, We Da Gals 5 (Danette Hamblin, Daranee Huncharek, Connie Paquette, Jeanne Hamblin), Clinton, Utah, 2,076. 2, LA 4, Montgomery, La., 2,058. 3, Split Personalities, Littleton, Colo., 2,032. 4, Sharp Rollers 2, Bowie, Md., 2,025. 5, Three State Rollers, Cordova, Tenn., 1,981.

Sapphire
(For bowlers with combined averages of 574 and below)
1, Anderson Agency No. 2 (Janet Leviton, Jean Christensen, Janelle Darling, Gina Chov), Lakeville, Minn., 1,891. 2, Alley Oops 2, Carrizo Springs, Texas, 1,864. 3, Rural Operators, Reeds Spring, Mo., 1,849. 4, Wyoming Wild Bunch, Thermopolis, Wyo., 1,843. 5, Deberia Henningsen Team 3, Stafford, Va., 1,818.

2018 USBC Women’s Championships Doubles Results

Top 5 Division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Division 1 – Diamond
(For bowlers with averages of 380 and above)
1, Jeanne Naccarato, Tacoma, Wash./Robin Romeo, Newhall, Calif., 1,405. 2, Jadee Scott-Jones, Newport, R.I./Gazmine Mason, Cranston, R.I., 1,398. 3, Ashley Bell, New Berlin, Wis./Katelyn Zwiefelhofer, Racine, Wis., 1,361. 4, Emily Fagan, Las Vegas/Adrienne Hare, Rio Rancho, N.M., 1,353. 5, Brittany Himmelreich, Cressona, Pa./Mandy Wilson, Dayton, Ohio, 1,348.

Ruby
(For bowlers with combined averages of 350-379)
1, Bre Higgins, North Platte, Neb./Cindy Johnson, Loveland, Colo., 1,135. 2, Cynthia Littles, San Antonio/Tanya Myers, New Braunfels, Texas, 1,133. 3, Brittany Wilson, Chicago/Ritzel Velarde, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,130. 4(tie), Cayla Vitko Castle Rock, Colo./Carole Jones, Englewood, Colo., and Gean Olin, Apopka, Fla./Sandra Giddens, Orlando, Fla., 1,118.

Emerald
(For bowlers with combined averages of 320-349)
1, Cynthia Pisani, Castro Valley, Calif./Lynette Carone, San Ramon, Calif., 1,195. 2, Cheri Zacherson/Sandy Gilly, Grantsville, Utah, 1,114. 3, Gretchen Rieder, Richmond, Minn./Angela Kiess, Albany, Minn., 1,105. 4. Jessica Slagle, Kirby, Wyo./Ella Parker, Thermopolis, Wyo., 1,098. 5, Kerri Allen, Fairfield, Calif./Joyce McKenna, Mountain View, Calif., 1,077.

Sapphire
(For bowlers with combined averages of 290-319)
1, Katrice Woods/Barbara Woods, Dodge City, Kan., 1,088. 2, Michelle Barnette, Leroy, Mich./Rose Swaffer, Cadillac, Mich., 1,081. 3, Donna Ishii, Caruthers, Calif./Alyssa Ishii, Chino Hills, Calif., 1,065. 4, Rachel Ruiz, Covina, Calif./Jessica Ting, Valinda, Calif., 1,061. 5, Lisa Kilby/Rose Mary Cooper, Roseburg, Ore., 1,037.

Amethyst
(For bowlers with combined averages of 260-289)
1, Laura Smith, Glenwood, Utah/Lisa Lott, Elsinore, Utah, 1,011. 2, Ruby Wiley, Winston-Salem, N.C./Gail Davis, Albany, Ga., 995. 3, Joyce Crosby/Carolyn Crosby, Brooksville, Fla., 980. 4, Patricia Areias, Carson City, Nev./Elizabeth Kenny, Brookfield, Ill., 976. 5, Dawn Carlton, Emmet, Ark./Vicki Stegeman, Chappell, Neb., 975.

Topaz
(For bowlers with combined averages of 259 and below)
1, Lisa Henderson, Odenton, Md./Julie Carter, Linthicum, Md., 954. 2, Gail Crews, Bowling Green, Fla./Judith Rowe, Sebring, Fla., 923. 3, Stephanie Krehbiel, Bonney Lake, Wash./Shannon Sison, Auburn, Wash., 897. 4, Tina Jennings, Seven Points, Texas/Laurie Johnson, Kemp, Texas, 862. 5, DeeAnn Troutman/Desiree Cain-MacBean, Salida, Colo., 859.

2018 USBC Women’s Championships Singles Results

Top 5 Division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Division 1 – Diamond
(For bowlers with averages of 190 and above)
1, Joely O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., 754. 2, Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb., 732. 3, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago, 729. 4, Julia Bond, Aurora, Ill., 720. 5(tie), Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., and Nicole Johnson, Wilmington, Del., 718.

Ruby
(For bowlers with averages from 175-189)
1, Desirae Armstrong, Ogden, Utah, 682. 2, Kitty Colgrove, Alexandria, Minn., 663. 3, Briana Zabierek, Lockport, Ill., 649. 4, Lana Frazier, Paterson, N.J., 644. 5, Toni Townsend, Galveston, Texas, 641.

Emerald
(For bowlers with averages from 160-174)
1, Wendy Mann, South Elgin, Ill., 638. 2, Kim Jones, Waukegan, Ill., 618. 3, Lisa Perreault, Grand Forks, N.D., 611. 4(tie), Vicky Gahm, Bird Island, Minn., and Cassandra Luster, Carson City, Nev., 597.

Sapphire
(For bowlers with averages from 145-159)
1, Jennifer Williamson, Stafford, Va., 582. 2, Sue Moen, Roscoe, Ill., 580. 3, Kimberly St. Romain, Baytown, Texas, 572. 4, Gwendolynn Edwards, Bellevue, Neb., 568. 5(tie), Heather Yunkin, East Berlin, Pa., and Gaylyn Hutchins, Greenville, Texas, 564.

Amethyst
(For bowlers with averages from 130-144)
1, Peggy Burchard, Sycamore, Ill., 549. 2, Carolyn Rice, Casa Grande, Ariz., 542. 3, Mary Brown, Gate, Okla., 541. 4, Linda Lam, Oak Park, Ill., 537. 5, Mary Pierson, Hastings, Minn., 533.

Topaz
(For bowlers with averages of 129 and below)
1, Francis Scoggins, Andrews, Texas, 531. 2, Regan Housekeeper, Orem, Utah, 522. 3, Patricia Feiteira, Wailuku, Hawaii, 509. 4, Jeana Doll, Sweet Home, Ore., 508. 5, Noreen Nunes, Orland, Calif., 498.

2018 USBC Women’s Championships All-Events Results

Top 5 Division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Division 1 – Diamond
(For bowlers with averages of 190 and above)
1, Julia Bond, Aurora Ill., 2,128. 2, Diandra Asbaty Chicago, 2,086. 3, Lindsay Boomershine, Perry, Utah, 2,065. 4, Adrienne Hare, Rio Rancho, N.M., 2,046. 5, Ingellimar Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 2,043.

Ruby
(For bowlers with averages from 175-189)
1, Briana Zabierek, Lockport, Ill., 1,862. 2, Margo Beck, Richmond, Va., 1,765. 3, Tina Armijo, Tijeras, N.M., 1,752. 4, Angela Gates, Delta, Colo., 1,743. 5, Loree Meyer, Pueblo, Colo., 1,726.

Emerald
(For bowlers with averages from 160-174)
1, Wendy Mann, South Elgin, Ill., 1,799. 2, Kelly Teague, Milwaukee, 1,738. 3, Lynette Carone, San Ramon, Calif., 1,730. 4, Donna Ray, Rock Hill, S.C., 1,706. 5, Barbara Root, Tacoma, Wash., 1,686.

Sapphire
(For bowlers with averages from 145-159)
1, Kimberly St. Romain, Baytown, Texas, 1591. 2, Carol Quesnel, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, 1,585. 3, Marilyn Barcelona, Lemoore, Calif., 1,574. 4, Stacey Schoenberg, St. Stephen, Minn., 1,572. 5(tie), Jessica Slagle, Kirby, Wyo. and Yvonne Alford, Hyattsville, Md., 1,564.

Amethyst
(For bowlers with averages from 130-144)
1, Mary Pierson, Hastings, Minn., 1,501. 2, Vickie Hensley, Mineral Wells, Texas, 1,491. 3, Jackie Madden, Little Rock, Ark., 1,480. 4, Barb Stanton, Winnemucca, Nev., 1,471. 5, Kimberly Kennedy, Manitowoc, Wis., 1,464.

Topaz
(For bowlers with averages of 129 and below)
1, Regan Housekeeper, Orem, Utah, 1,375. 2, Julie Carter, Linthicum, Md., 1,357. 3, Carolyn Marcus, Ten Sleep, Wyo., 1,344. 4, Debra Ansbach, Williams, Ariz., 1,341. 5, Lynn Okopinski, Milwaukee, 1,336.