Team honors family while taking lead at 2017 Women's Championships

By Ryne Navarro and Aaron Smith
USBC Communications

BATON ROUGE, La. -
Jadene's Team of North Adams, Massachusetts, took the lead in Sapphire Team on Tuesday at the 2017 United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships, but the team's namesake is the reason they lace up to compete each year.

Led by Marge Dawley's 501 series, Jadene's Team posted games of 570, 628 and 587 at the Raising Cane's River Center for a 1,785 total, surpassing Pickups of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which previously held the lead with 1,763.

Dawley was joined in the effort by her daughters, Diana Dawley (471) and Marcia Paris (446), and Laura Hartman (367).

Marge Dawley made her 27th USBC Women's Championships appearance this week, and her team has been named after her daughter, Jadene Alfonso.

"I've been bowling this tournament for some time now, and I was able to get my oldest daughter, Jadene, to start bowling with me," Marge said. "She had bowled with us for about 10 years before she passed away from breast cancer. We decided to name the team after her in memory."

The team also supported the fight against breast cancer by wearing shirts with a pink ribbon, hoping to raise breast cancer awareness. The phrase "In Memory of Jadene" surrounds the ribbon.

The group now comes to the Women's Championships to have a fun and remember the good times they had with Jadene. Leaving with the lead is an added bonus.

"We bowl to have fun and don't expect to win," Marge said. "But if we were to win this year, we'd be very happy."

Sapphire Team features four-player teams with entering averages of 574 and below.

Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Women's Championships page.