California team grabs Sapphire lead at USBC Women's Championships
June 29, 2010
EL PASO, Texas - As the 2010 USBC Women's Championships creeps closer to its final day, East Bay Ladies of Richmond, Calif., made a late rush to the top of the leaderboard Sunday.
The group became the first team in the Sapphire Division to break the 2,500-mark and cruised into the team lead with a 2,528 total at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Auto Way Bowl of Minden, Neb., previously held the lead with 2,464.
East Bay Ladies got stronger as each game passed, rolling games of 797, 833 and 883. The team received an additional five pins of handicap per game to reach its final total.
Teresa Sexton led the team with a 613 series and was joined by Ellen Temple-Daniels (569), Delores Easterling (534), Shiela Douglas (412) and Elzada Reed (385).
Easterling, who serves as the team captain for East Bay Ladies, ensures a positive atmosphere while on the tournament lanes and does her best to not let her teammates get caught up in anything that may take them out of the game.
"I told everybody not to worry about the lanes and that you have to bowl your own game," said Easterling, who made her 21st Women's Championships appearance. "You have to start with what you know and adjust from there. All I asked of them was to give it their best on every shot."
Each game saw a different team member step up. Easterling, who entered the event with a 160 average, rolled a 200 in the first game. Temple-Daniels was 105 pins above her average in the second game, shooting 239. Sexton capped off the final game with a 244.
With the big scores rolling in, the members of East Bay Ladies knew they were putting up a good team score. They avoided looking at the leaderboard, however, and their patience proved to make for a special moment when they saw that they had moved into first place.
"Our lane monitor started to tell me something, and I told him not to tell us anything," said Easterling, who bowls at Albany Bowl in Albany, Calif. "I told the girls not to look at the scores and not to worry about the past frames. I was so happy when I found out that we had taken the lead, but I was even happier for them."
This was the first time East Bay Ladies had bowled at the Women's Championships as a team. Easterling, Temple-Daniels, Sexton and Reed bowl together in league, and they added Douglas as a substitute.
"They never doubted themselves," Easterling said. "The whole thing is about having fun."
The group doesn't have to wait very long to see if the score will hold up for their first national title. The 2010 event, which started on March 27, finishes its 100-day run on July 4.
They know anything can happen in the tournament's last six days, but they also know what it would mean if they hold on to the top spot.
"We can get knocked off," Easterling said. "We had to knock someone off to get to where we are at. But if we hold on, it would be like frosting on a cake."
Sapphire Team includes bowlers with combined averages of 749 and below, with handicap based on 100 percent of 750.
Presenting sponsors for the 2010 USBC Women's Championships are Nationwide Insurance; Kegel, official lane maintenance provider; US Steltronic, official scoring system; Brunswick; Storm Bowling Products Inc.; and the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The group became the first team in the Sapphire Division to break the 2,500-mark and cruised into the team lead with a 2,528 total at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Auto Way Bowl of Minden, Neb., previously held the lead with 2,464.
East Bay Ladies got stronger as each game passed, rolling games of 797, 833 and 883. The team received an additional five pins of handicap per game to reach its final total.
Teresa Sexton led the team with a 613 series and was joined by Ellen Temple-Daniels (569), Delores Easterling (534), Shiela Douglas (412) and Elzada Reed (385).
Easterling, who serves as the team captain for East Bay Ladies, ensures a positive atmosphere while on the tournament lanes and does her best to not let her teammates get caught up in anything that may take them out of the game.
"I told everybody not to worry about the lanes and that you have to bowl your own game," said Easterling, who made her 21st Women's Championships appearance. "You have to start with what you know and adjust from there. All I asked of them was to give it their best on every shot."
Each game saw a different team member step up. Easterling, who entered the event with a 160 average, rolled a 200 in the first game. Temple-Daniels was 105 pins above her average in the second game, shooting 239. Sexton capped off the final game with a 244.
With the big scores rolling in, the members of East Bay Ladies knew they were putting up a good team score. They avoided looking at the leaderboard, however, and their patience proved to make for a special moment when they saw that they had moved into first place.
"Our lane monitor started to tell me something, and I told him not to tell us anything," said Easterling, who bowls at Albany Bowl in Albany, Calif. "I told the girls not to look at the scores and not to worry about the past frames. I was so happy when I found out that we had taken the lead, but I was even happier for them."
This was the first time East Bay Ladies had bowled at the Women's Championships as a team. Easterling, Temple-Daniels, Sexton and Reed bowl together in league, and they added Douglas as a substitute.
"They never doubted themselves," Easterling said. "The whole thing is about having fun."
The group doesn't have to wait very long to see if the score will hold up for their first national title. The 2010 event, which started on March 27, finishes its 100-day run on July 4.
They know anything can happen in the tournament's last six days, but they also know what it would mean if they hold on to the top spot.
"We can get knocked off," Easterling said. "We had to knock someone off to get to where we are at. But if we hold on, it would be like frosting on a cake."
Sapphire Team includes bowlers with combined averages of 749 and below, with handicap based on 100 percent of 750.
Presenting sponsors for the 2010 USBC Women's Championships are Nationwide Insurance; Kegel, official lane maintenance provider; US Steltronic, official scoring system; Brunswick; Storm Bowling Products Inc.; and the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau.