Janawicz, McEwan take Trials lead

HENDERSON, Nev. - With two rounds completed, John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Fla., and defending champion Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., moved into the overall lead Friday at the 2013 United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials.

Janawicz McEwanMcEwan leads the women's field with 14 points (13 points for 13th place in Round 1 and one point for finishing first in Round 2), while Janawicz leads the men's division with 17 points (15 in Round 1 and two in Round 2) at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center. Mikey Preston of Oswego, Ill., also has 17 points but Janawicz holds the tiebreaker, which is total pinfall.

The players in the field earn points based on their finishing position in each round. After five rounds, the top three men and top three women with the least amount of points will advance to the stepladder finals Monday night.

McEwan moved into the lead by having a strong second day on the 35-foot Beijing lane condition. She won the round with a six-game total of 1,349 (224.83 average).

"I'm happy with how today went but it is still early in the tournament; a lot of days are left, so I'm not comfortable yet," McEwan said. "I have to take each day as a completely separate tournament, have the right game plan, make good shots, stay ahead of the moves and be near the top every day."

Elise Bolton of Merritt Island, Fla., sits in second place in the overall standings with 16 points after finishing 11th in Round 1 and fifth in the second round. Missy Parkin of Fullerton, Calif., used a second-place finish Friday to move into third overall with 18 points.

On the men's side, Janawicz and Preston finished tied with 17 points but Janawicz has a higher 12-game pinfall by 54 pins to earn the top spot after two days. Both players have been consistent over the first two days with top 15 finishes each day.

"It's always good to be in this position and keep the points as minimal as possible," Janawicz said. "If you fall behind, it can be tough to catch up in this format, so from that standpoint I'm happy."

First-round leader John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, N.Y., finished 17th on Friday to drop to third place with 18 points. Defending champion Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., also has 18 points but is ranked fourth based on total pinfall.

Action shifts to the third round of the event, which will be contested on the 47-foot Paris pattern on Saturday. All rounds of the Team USA Trials are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.

The top three men and top three women after five rounds of qualifying will be guaranteed spots on Team USA in 2013 and will bowl in the stepladder finals for the right to be declared champion, a spot in the QubicaAMF World Cup and prize money. Two more men and two more women from the event will be selected to join Team USA, while five men and five women will be selected from a pool of eligible bowlers based on their bowling resumes and Trials performance, if they competed.

A total of eight Junior Team USA spots - four boys and four girls - also will be available. The top two boys and top two girls in the final points standings will earn automatic spots, while two boys and two girls spots will be at-large selections taken from either the Team USA Trials field or the finals field from the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships held in July 2012. All bowlers 20 and under as of Jan. 1, 2013 are eligible for Junior Team USA.

For more information on the Team USA Trials, including live streaming, live scoring, full player stats and complete standings, visit BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials.