Past champion grabs all-events lead at OC

JanawiczJohn2013LARGE RENO, Nev. - Less than 24 hours after throwing three strikes to cap off the highest team series in 110 years of United States Bowling Congress Open Championships history, John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Fla., tossed another memorable three-bagger to also claim the Regular All-Events lead at the 2013 event.

The 40-year-old right-hander started his 23rd USBC Open Championships with a 752 series and helped Lodge Lanes Too of Orlando, Fla., to a 3,538 total Tuesday. He returned to the National Bowling Stadium on Wednesday and added 741 in singles and 676 in doubles for a 2,169 all-events total. Joe Keltner of Wichita, Kan., previously held the lead with 2,154.

Although Janawicz spent some time Tuesday night thinking about his team's performance, and he certainly appreciates the significance of beating a record that has stood since Bruegger's Bagels of Albany, N.Y., shot 3,537 on its way to the 1993 Regular Team title, the five-time Team USA member knew he had to clear his mind and approach doubles and singles with the same preparation he did for the team event.

"I kind of relived it last night, and didn't sleep that great," Janawicz said. "I just had to look at it as another day, pair of lanes, pattern and tournament. Like anything else, we came in with a game plan today, but if it doesn't work out you have to bail out as quickly as possible, and that's what we had to do today. You look at ball motion, talk it over collectively and make your adjustments from there."

The members of Lodge Lanes Too had their sights set on the Team All-Events number as well going into doubles and singles, but they fell just short, settling into second place with a 9,820 total. Their effort was seen live on BowlTV by more than 1,200 bowling fans. Team Tilt of Lawrence, Kan., the 2008 Regular Team winner, leads Team All-Events this year with 10,065.

Janawicz, who nearly was lofting the left gutter by the end of singles, was joined by former Team USA member Vernon Peterson (2,051), 1987 Team All-Events champion Mitch Jabczenski (1,887), three-time Open Championships titlist John Gaines (1,880) and Professional Bowlers Association Tour titlist Scott Newell (1,833).

"Even when we had one oil pattern, there was a lot of versatility needed," said Janawicz, who won the 2010 Team USA Trials. "It requires different skill sets, ball speeds, rotations and what not. It's just part of being a complete player. We make sure those skills are as sharp as possible because you don't want to sacrifice any bad shots, since there's only nine games. You don't have that much room to make a mistake."

This is not Janawicz's first time atop the leaderboards, and it's not even his first time as a record-holder at the Open Championships. In 2004, he shot a then-record 858 series on his way to the Regular Singles and Regular All-Events titles, also at the NBS. More than anything, his continued success is proof that hard work and preparation pay off.

"There's just something about the national championship being in the Stadium that makes it a little more special," said Janawicz, who rolled an all-events score of 2,224 in 2004. "My ball rolls pretty good here, I can't lie. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's more due to preparation. There's two main tournaments a year that I make sure I gear up for, this and the Team USA Trials. Preparation really is the key."

With the individual accolades already accomplished in 2004, Janawicz hopes to add a team title to his resume along with sharing the winning feeling with his Lodge Lanes Too teammates.

"I hope the all-events holds up, but I don't think it will," Janawicz said. "The team is the main thing I'm hoping that holds, especially for the other four guys. To be able to share it with a few others, and to get the all-time record banner and see that hanging next year, that would be really special for me. This is the holy grail of tournaments. No tournament is quite like this in terms of the masses and also the competition that comes here year after year."

Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.