O'Keefe, Butturff Day 2 leaders at 2019 Pan Am Trials
March 06, 2019
Results - Day 1 | Day 2 | Overall
ARLINGTON, Texas - When Shannon O'Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, arrived at the International Training and Research Center for the second day of Team USA's 2019 Pan Am Trials, she immediately knew it was going to be a good day.
The positive outlook came when she saw she'd be sharing the lanes with her best friend, Stefanie Johnson of McKinney, Texas, and the fun-filled outing got even better as the two raced up the standings.
O'Keefe finished the six-game block at the top of the nine-player list with a 1,490 total, which included a perfect game, live on BowlTV. Johnson was second on the day with 1,426, and Jordan Richard of Tecumseh, Michigan, tied for third place with newly elected United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey (1,347).
"Stefanie is my best friend and like my sister, and I don't get to see her as much as I'd like to," said O'Keefe, who made her Team USA debut in 2005. "I walked in this morning and saw I was crossing with her, and I knew there was no way it wasn't going to be a good day, no matter what happened on the lanes. This was our home, we had some great memories here, and to be able to bowl together for six straight games today was awesome."
Kulick also rolled a perfect game on Wednesday's 36-foot Stockholm oil pattern, while men's leader, Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, tossed his second 300 in as many days, showcasing his versatility on two significantly different oil patterns.
Butturff followed opening games of 193 and 205 with games of 300, 274, 258 and 279 for a 1,509 total and led the men's field for the second consecutive day. First-time Team USA member Perry Crowell IV of Chesterfield, Michigan, was second Wednesday with 1,356, and AJ Johnson of Oswego, Illinois, finished third with 1,347.
The players earn points each day based on their finishing positions, and they'll receive additional points at the end of the four-day event based on their overall pinfall. The goal is to have as few points as possible, and Butturff has accomplished that with one point each day.
When the Pan Am Trials process concludes for the men at the 2019 USBC Masters and the women at the 2019 USBC Queens, the top two men and top two women will earn the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games.
This year's Pan Am Games will take place in Lima, Peru, from July 26-Aug. 11 and will bring together approximately 6,700 athletes and feature 39 sports and 62 disciplines.
"The first couple of games today, I had some trouble keeping my feet under me for some reason, but once I was able to throw a few consistent shots, I felt like I was on cruise control," said Butturff, a three-time Team USA member and the 2017 QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup champion. "I've had two great days, and I'd like to keep it going for two more. Each day is a new day and a new pattern, and you can't focus on what happened in the past, even if it went well."
O'Keefe and Johnson have a memorable past, too, with 15 consecutive years together on Team USA as the foundation. They both also used to work at USBC, so the ITRC was their home bowling center and a place they spent a lot of time honing their skills.
The two seem to bring out the best in each other, and that has translated to continued success across the globe. Not only does the often light mood help keep their arm swings loose, they also communicate very well on the lanes and learn a lot from what the other is doing.
The friends also top the women's overall standings through 12 games. O'Keefe leads with a 2,706 pinfall total, a 225.5 average, and Johnson is second with 2,679. Richard, the 2018 PWBA Rookie of the Year, is third with 2,572.
O'Keefe's performance Wednesday was a big improvement from her seventh-place finish on Tuesday's 41-foot Rome oil pattern, and each day is an opportunity to learn from her miscues and becoming a better overall player, especially as the start of the 2019 Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season draws closer.
The PWBA Tour season is less than two months away, and O'Keefe is the reigning PWBA Player of the Year.
Though her offseason has been successful - she earned three medals at the 2018 Pan American Bowling Confederation Women's Championships and went on to win the 2018 QubicaAMF World Cup - finding the balance between her job as a coach and her career as a player has its own challenges.
"Prior to coming here, I was at an event with our collegiate team, so I hadn't bowled in five days, and if I don't bowl every day, I feel like a baby deer on ice," said O'Keefe, the head women's bowling coach at McKendree University. "Yesterday was a bit of a struggle and included some careless mistakes, but it also gave me a chance to evaluate some of those inconsistencies and gauge my progress heading into the upcoming Tour season."
Competition at the ITRC will resume Thursday at noon Eastern, and the players will face the 44-foot London oil pattern. All of the week's lane conditions are from World Bowling's list of 12 patterns for 2019.
This week's Pan Am Trials will account for 60 percent of the points toward determining the two men and two women who will represent Team USA in Peru. The Masters for the men and Queens for the women will make up the other 40 percent of the points.
Through two days, Butturff tops the men's field with a 2,977 total, a 248.08 average for his 12 games. EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana, is 358 pins behind with 2,619, and Nick Pate of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, is third with 2,598.
The Pan Am Games are the second largest multi-sport event, gathering the 41 National Olympic Committees that make up PanamSports, and are held every fourth year. The Games last were contested in Toronto in July 2015. Bowling made its debut at the event as a demonstration sport in 1983.
The first edition of the Pan Am Games was held in Buenos Aires in 1951 and welcomed 22 countries competing in 18 sports.
Visit BOWL.com/TeamUSA for more information about the athlete selection process for the Pan Am Games and to learn more about the Team USA program.
ARLINGTON, Texas - When Shannon O'Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, arrived at the International Training and Research Center for the second day of Team USA's 2019 Pan Am Trials, she immediately knew it was going to be a good day.
The positive outlook came when she saw she'd be sharing the lanes with her best friend, Stefanie Johnson of McKinney, Texas, and the fun-filled outing got even better as the two raced up the standings.
O'Keefe finished the six-game block at the top of the nine-player list with a 1,490 total, which included a perfect game, live on BowlTV. Johnson was second on the day with 1,426, and Jordan Richard of Tecumseh, Michigan, tied for third place with newly elected United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey (1,347).
"Stefanie is my best friend and like my sister, and I don't get to see her as much as I'd like to," said O'Keefe, who made her Team USA debut in 2005. "I walked in this morning and saw I was crossing with her, and I knew there was no way it wasn't going to be a good day, no matter what happened on the lanes. This was our home, we had some great memories here, and to be able to bowl together for six straight games today was awesome."
Kulick also rolled a perfect game on Wednesday's 36-foot Stockholm oil pattern, while men's leader, Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, tossed his second 300 in as many days, showcasing his versatility on two significantly different oil patterns.
Butturff followed opening games of 193 and 205 with games of 300, 274, 258 and 279 for a 1,509 total and led the men's field for the second consecutive day. First-time Team USA member Perry Crowell IV of Chesterfield, Michigan, was second Wednesday with 1,356, and AJ Johnson of Oswego, Illinois, finished third with 1,347.
The players earn points each day based on their finishing positions, and they'll receive additional points at the end of the four-day event based on their overall pinfall. The goal is to have as few points as possible, and Butturff has accomplished that with one point each day.
When the Pan Am Trials process concludes for the men at the 2019 USBC Masters and the women at the 2019 USBC Queens, the top two men and top two women will earn the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games.
This year's Pan Am Games will take place in Lima, Peru, from July 26-Aug. 11 and will bring together approximately 6,700 athletes and feature 39 sports and 62 disciplines.
"The first couple of games today, I had some trouble keeping my feet under me for some reason, but once I was able to throw a few consistent shots, I felt like I was on cruise control," said Butturff, a three-time Team USA member and the 2017 QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup champion. "I've had two great days, and I'd like to keep it going for two more. Each day is a new day and a new pattern, and you can't focus on what happened in the past, even if it went well."
O'Keefe and Johnson have a memorable past, too, with 15 consecutive years together on Team USA as the foundation. They both also used to work at USBC, so the ITRC was their home bowling center and a place they spent a lot of time honing their skills.The two seem to bring out the best in each other, and that has translated to continued success across the globe. Not only does the often light mood help keep their arm swings loose, they also communicate very well on the lanes and learn a lot from what the other is doing.
The friends also top the women's overall standings through 12 games. O'Keefe leads with a 2,706 pinfall total, a 225.5 average, and Johnson is second with 2,679. Richard, the 2018 PWBA Rookie of the Year, is third with 2,572.
O'Keefe's performance Wednesday was a big improvement from her seventh-place finish on Tuesday's 41-foot Rome oil pattern, and each day is an opportunity to learn from her miscues and becoming a better overall player, especially as the start of the 2019 Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season draws closer.
The PWBA Tour season is less than two months away, and O'Keefe is the reigning PWBA Player of the Year.
Though her offseason has been successful - she earned three medals at the 2018 Pan American Bowling Confederation Women's Championships and went on to win the 2018 QubicaAMF World Cup - finding the balance between her job as a coach and her career as a player has its own challenges.
"Prior to coming here, I was at an event with our collegiate team, so I hadn't bowled in five days, and if I don't bowl every day, I feel like a baby deer on ice," said O'Keefe, the head women's bowling coach at McKendree University. "Yesterday was a bit of a struggle and included some careless mistakes, but it also gave me a chance to evaluate some of those inconsistencies and gauge my progress heading into the upcoming Tour season."
Competition at the ITRC will resume Thursday at noon Eastern, and the players will face the 44-foot London oil pattern. All of the week's lane conditions are from World Bowling's list of 12 patterns for 2019.
This week's Pan Am Trials will account for 60 percent of the points toward determining the two men and two women who will represent Team USA in Peru. The Masters for the men and Queens for the women will make up the other 40 percent of the points.
Through two days, Butturff tops the men's field with a 2,977 total, a 248.08 average for his 12 games. EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana, is 358 pins behind with 2,619, and Nick Pate of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, is third with 2,598.
The Pan Am Games are the second largest multi-sport event, gathering the 41 National Olympic Committees that make up PanamSports, and are held every fourth year. The Games last were contested in Toronto in July 2015. Bowling made its debut at the event as a demonstration sport in 1983.
The first edition of the Pan Am Games was held in Buenos Aires in 1951 and welcomed 22 countries competing in 18 sports.
Visit BOWL.com/TeamUSA for more information about the athlete selection process for the Pan Am Games and to learn more about the Team USA program.