Colorado team leads Sapphire Division at USBC Women's
May 07, 2015
By Wishelle Banks and Matt Cannizzaro
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. - As she embarked on her first trip to The Biggest Little City in the World to bowl with family and friends at the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships, first-time participant Chelsea Bontz could not have imagined that her team would end up taking the lead.
Bontz helped The Leftovers of Loveland, Colorado, to games of 532,629 and 606 for a 1,767 total at the National Bowling Stadium on Sunday, moving the group past AJ's Jokers of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, which previously held the lead in Sapphire Team with 1,760.
"It feels really good," said Bontz, captain of The Leftovers. "I'm a first-timer here, but my team has been here before. I feel like we bowled really well as a team. It went really well."
Bontz led The Leftovers with a 497 series and was followed by Kathy Lopez (478), Sandy Ward (453) and Nicole Wells (339).
Bontz only began bowling at age 18, and now, four years later, she bowls league once a week at Loveland's Sweetheart Lanes, where her teammates, including family members, urged her to accompany them to Reno for this year's USBC Women's Championships.
"I've done two state tournaments, and they went pretty good," Bontz said. "My mom and my grandma are here, and we have a bunch of teams out of Loveland, so everybody told me I needed to go. So I came, and I'm glad I did. I bowled really well."
And as their team event unfolded this week at the NBS, Bontz said they initially didn't realize their scores were high enough to take the lead.
"I honestly don't think we were aware that our standings were as good as they were," Bontz said. "I had the highest game out of everybody yesterday on our team, which was a 204. Sandy Ward was pretty consistent and Kathy Lopez had a 186, which also helped us. We did really well as a team."
Bontz added a 527 series in doubles and 495 in singles for a 1,519 all-events total, which is tied for ninth place in Sapphire All-Events. Gretchen Rieder of Richmond, Minnesota, leads with 1,597.
Bontz also was accompanied to the 2015 Women's Championships by her 3-year-old daughter, Kinley, who will become a big sister to Oakley, a baby girl expected to be born around July 10, the week after the tournament ends its 82-day run.
Come 2016, the family affair likely will continue, as The Leftovers and its companion teams plans to head to the 2016 Women's Championships at the South Point Bowling Plaza, a new 60-lane venue in Las Vegas.
Bontz already is looking forward to her second Women's Championships.
"I did well this year, won some brackets and my game is coming along," said Bontz, a bartender and server at McGraff's American Grill in Loveland. "Vegas, absolutely - same team, same group of people. We'll go every year."
Teams in the Sapphire Division enter the Women's Championships with combined averages of 574 and below, while bowlers in Sapphire Singles and All-Events have entering averages of 145-159.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open/Women's Championships page.
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. - As she embarked on her first trip to The Biggest Little City in the World to bowl with family and friends at the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships, first-time participant Chelsea Bontz could not have imagined that her team would end up taking the lead.
Bontz helped The Leftovers of Loveland, Colorado, to games of 532,629 and 606 for a 1,767 total at the National Bowling Stadium on Sunday, moving the group past AJ's Jokers of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, which previously held the lead in Sapphire Team with 1,760.
"It feels really good," said Bontz, captain of The Leftovers. "I'm a first-timer here, but my team has been here before. I feel like we bowled really well as a team. It went really well."
Bontz led The Leftovers with a 497 series and was followed by Kathy Lopez (478), Sandy Ward (453) and Nicole Wells (339).
Bontz only began bowling at age 18, and now, four years later, she bowls league once a week at Loveland's Sweetheart Lanes, where her teammates, including family members, urged her to accompany them to Reno for this year's USBC Women's Championships.
"I've done two state tournaments, and they went pretty good," Bontz said. "My mom and my grandma are here, and we have a bunch of teams out of Loveland, so everybody told me I needed to go. So I came, and I'm glad I did. I bowled really well."
And as their team event unfolded this week at the NBS, Bontz said they initially didn't realize their scores were high enough to take the lead.
"I honestly don't think we were aware that our standings were as good as they were," Bontz said. "I had the highest game out of everybody yesterday on our team, which was a 204. Sandy Ward was pretty consistent and Kathy Lopez had a 186, which also helped us. We did really well as a team."
Bontz added a 527 series in doubles and 495 in singles for a 1,519 all-events total, which is tied for ninth place in Sapphire All-Events. Gretchen Rieder of Richmond, Minnesota, leads with 1,597.
Bontz also was accompanied to the 2015 Women's Championships by her 3-year-old daughter, Kinley, who will become a big sister to Oakley, a baby girl expected to be born around July 10, the week after the tournament ends its 82-day run.
Come 2016, the family affair likely will continue, as The Leftovers and its companion teams plans to head to the 2016 Women's Championships at the South Point Bowling Plaza, a new 60-lane venue in Las Vegas.
Bontz already is looking forward to her second Women's Championships.
"I did well this year, won some brackets and my game is coming along," said Bontz, a bartender and server at McGraff's American Grill in Loveland. "Vegas, absolutely - same team, same group of people. We'll go every year."
Teams in the Sapphire Division enter the Women's Championships with combined averages of 574 and below, while bowlers in Sapphire Singles and All-Events have entering averages of 145-159.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open/Women's Championships page.