Colombia's Guerrero takes singles gold at PABCON
September 13, 2014
CALI, Colombia - Colombia's Clara Guerrero broke the Pan American Bowling Confederation Women's Championships singles record en route to the gold medal Saturday in her home country.
Guerrero blasted a six-game total of 1,498 (249.67 average) to earn her second career gold medal in the PABCON Women's Championships. Team USA's Kelly Kulick earned the silver and teammate Liz Johnson took the bronze at the Cali Bowling Coliseum.
After starting with games of 233, 290 and 223, Guerrero closed out her singles event strong with 248, 259 and 245 to set the score to beat on the first squad.
It was the first individual PABCON gold medal in Guerrero's career. She won the doubles gold medal in 2001 with Paola Gomez and has earned seven silver medals and two bronze medals over the years.
"It feels incredible to win the gold medal in singles with my parents, my brother and the people who always support me behind me," said Guerrero, who beat the previous record of 1,482 set by Team USA's Liz Johnson in 2008. "The level of this tournament is quite high, so I'm very pleased and quite excited."
The United States earned the second through sixth positions in the standings with Kulick leading the way with a 1,387 second-place finish. Johnson totaled 1,369 to finish third.
Missy Parkin finished in fourth place with 1,340, Shannon Pluhowsky was fifth with 1,340 and Danielle McEwan finished in a tie for sixth place with 1,314. Shannon O'Keefe was 14th with 1,262.
Four countries will qualify for the 2015 Pan American Games this week as part of the PABCON Women's Championships. The combined all-events total of the top two bowlers from each non-qualified country will determine the top four that advance.
Eight countries have already qualified for the Pan American Games, which will feature 14 countries. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela have already secured spots.
There are seven countries competing in the PABCON Women's Championships that have yet to qualify and four will earn spots. Those countries are Aruba, the Bahamas, the United States, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
With Kulick and Johnson's strong start, it put Team USA atop the leaderboard in the race to qualify for the Pan American Games.
The competition moves to the doubles event, which will be contested starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on Sunday. All rounds of the PABCON Women's Championships are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.
2014 PABCON WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Cali Bowling Coliseum, Cali, Colombia
Saturday's results
SINGLES
(Six games)
GOLD - Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 1,498
SILVER - Kelly Kulick, United States, 1,387
BRONZE - Liz Johnson, United States, 1,369
Complete results
Guerrero blasted a six-game total of 1,498 (249.67 average) to earn her second career gold medal in the PABCON Women's Championships. Team USA's Kelly Kulick earned the silver and teammate Liz Johnson took the bronze at the Cali Bowling Coliseum.
After starting with games of 233, 290 and 223, Guerrero closed out her singles event strong with 248, 259 and 245 to set the score to beat on the first squad.
It was the first individual PABCON gold medal in Guerrero's career. She won the doubles gold medal in 2001 with Paola Gomez and has earned seven silver medals and two bronze medals over the years.
"It feels incredible to win the gold medal in singles with my parents, my brother and the people who always support me behind me," said Guerrero, who beat the previous record of 1,482 set by Team USA's Liz Johnson in 2008. "The level of this tournament is quite high, so I'm very pleased and quite excited."
The United States earned the second through sixth positions in the standings with Kulick leading the way with a 1,387 second-place finish. Johnson totaled 1,369 to finish third.
Missy Parkin finished in fourth place with 1,340, Shannon Pluhowsky was fifth with 1,340 and Danielle McEwan finished in a tie for sixth place with 1,314. Shannon O'Keefe was 14th with 1,262.
Four countries will qualify for the 2015 Pan American Games this week as part of the PABCON Women's Championships. The combined all-events total of the top two bowlers from each non-qualified country will determine the top four that advance.
Eight countries have already qualified for the Pan American Games, which will feature 14 countries. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela have already secured spots.
There are seven countries competing in the PABCON Women's Championships that have yet to qualify and four will earn spots. Those countries are Aruba, the Bahamas, the United States, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
With Kulick and Johnson's strong start, it put Team USA atop the leaderboard in the race to qualify for the Pan American Games.
The competition moves to the doubles event, which will be contested starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on Sunday. All rounds of the PABCON Women's Championships are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.
2014 PABCON WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Cali Bowling Coliseum, Cali, Colombia
Saturday's results
SINGLES
(Six games)
GOLD - Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 1,498
SILVER - Kelly Kulick, United States, 1,387
BRONZE - Liz Johnson, United States, 1,369
Complete results