Team USA’s Elise Bolton, Kyle King and Lucy Sandelin excelled in a grueling first day at the 48th Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Orlando, Fla., on Monday, taking leads in their respective divisions in the first round of singles competition at Orlando’s Boardwalk Bowl.

Team USA assistant coach Bryan O’Keefe said taking the lead in any division was quite a feat on lane patterns the players battled throughout the day.

“The lanes are playing a lot harder than they did last year,” O’Keefe says. “There is a ton of hook on the short pattern. If the ball goes up the lane, it wants to go high so you can’t even play the gutter. And the long pattern played hard all day — no defined hook spot or hold area ever developed.”

Bolstered by an opening series of 666 and a closing game of 246, Bolton’s six-game total of 1,319 was the highest set of the day and put her ahead of the Junior A (ages 16-19) Women’s division field by a margin of 108 pins. In the Junior A Men’s division, Kyle King rebounded from an opening game of 169 to close out his set with a 683 series, taking the lead with a total pinfall of 1,312. Lucy Sandelin’s 1,143 leads the Senior Women’s division by 67 pins.

In addition to the three leaders, Team USA has 10 other bowlers in the top five in their respective divisions, including 2009 Team USA Trials champion Cassidy Schaub and two-time PWBA titlist Kendra Gaines, among others.

“They’re going to have to make good, clean shots to succeed on these patterns,” O’Keefe said as he looked ahead to the rest of the week, “especially on the long pattern.”

Competition resumes Tuesday with the concluding six games of the singles event. Bowlers who finish with the highest 12-game pinfall will be crowned champions in their respective divisions, which include Adult Men, Adult Women, Senior Men, Senior Women, Junior A (ages 16-19) men and women, and Junior B (ages 12-15) men and women.