USA to compete in Tournament of the Americas

ARLINGTON, Texas - Team USA, Junior Team USA and U15 development team members will compete in the 51st Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas starting Monday in Sunrise, Fla.

The week-long tournament will feature players from the American Zone competing for medals in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, mixed team and all-events.

Competition will take place at Strikers Lanes and features five divisions: Adult, Senior (ages 50-plus for men, 45-plus for women), Super Senior (ages 60-plus for men, 55-plus for women), Junior A (ages 16-19) and Junior B (ages 12-15). The United States won 28 gold medals at last year's tournament.

Team USA members competing in the Adult Division will be Steve Smith of San Diego, first-year Team USA member Eddie VanDaniker (above) of Chatsworth, Calif., Josie Earnest of Nashville, Tenn., and Brittni Hamilton of Webster, N.Y.

Junior Team USA members Elise Bolton of Merritt Island, Fla., Morgan O'Brien of Lomira, Wis., Andrew Anderson of Holly, Mich., and Michael Coffey of Melbourne, Fla., will compete in the Junior A Division. Bolton competed in the tournament last year, taking home five medals.

Breanna Clemmer of Clover, S.C., Ashley Dunn of Palmdale, Calif., Bradley Crouse of Nazareth, Pa., and Wesley Low of Palmdale, Calif., will represent the United States in the Junior B Division. The four bowlers are members of the U15 development team, earning their way onto the team with their performances at the 2012 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships.

Paula Vidad, who won Bowling's Senior U.S. Women's Open earlier this week, Char Hammel, David Hurt and Pete Thomas will compete in the Senior Division. USBC Hall of Famer Dana Miller-Mackie, Jacqueline Smith, Bubba Haney and Ed Roberts are in the Super Senior Division.

The Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas is the oldest annual international tournament in the American Zone. It is an invitational competition for countries in the Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON), the American Zone of the World Tenpin Bowling Association.

In each division, one team comprised of two men and two women compete in singles, doubles, mixed doubles and mixed team. After 36 games, individual all-events and national all-events champions are recognized.