Three Team USA members advance in singles at 2019 Pan American Games
July 29, 2019
Standings
LIMA, Peru - Team USA's Shannon O'Keefe, Jakob Butturff and Nick Pate have advanced to the match-play portion of the singles event at the 2019 Pan American Games.
They are among the eight men and eight women still in contention for the gold, silver and bronze medals, and they'll be back on the lanes the Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
All competitors bowled 12 games of qualifying over two days, and total pinfall determined who moved on to round-robin match play.
Mexico's Aseret Zetter was able to maintain her spot atop the women's standings, and she finished qualifying with a 2,750 total, a 229.2 average and a record for 12 games of singles at the Pan Am Games. She is looking for her second medal of the week after claiming the silver medal in doubles with Iliana Lomeli.
Clara Guerrero of Colombia (2,729) is 21 pins behind Zetter and followed by Lomeli (2,703), Thashaina Seraus of Aruba (2,612) and O'Keefe (2,583). Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic earned the final spot in match play with a 2,529 total, a 210.8 average.
"It took me some time on each pair to get comfortable today, but I'm excited to advance, and the game plan for tomorrow will be the same as it always is for me," said O'Keefe, a 15-time Team USA member and a doubles gold medalist this week with Stefanie Johnson. "I'll try to stay patient and not freak out, try to make all my spares, execute and do what the ball is telling me. I feel like I grinded very well today, and tomorrow is another chance to use what I learned to improve."
Johnson finished 18th in singles with 2,373.
Butturff continued his record-setting ways and led the way for the men, averaging 249.3 on the way to a 2,991 pinfall total. He was followed by Jean Perez of Puerto Rico (2,955), Dan MacLelland of Canada (2,847), Lucas Legnani of Argentina (2,803) and Brazil's Marcelo Suartz (2,772). The Dominican Republic's Alex Prats earned the final spot on the men's side with a 2,702 total, an average of 225.2.
Butturff's singles performance topped the previous 12-game singles record of 2,849, rolled by his former Team USA teammate Chris Barnes at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Butturff set the overall six- and 12-game marks during doubles this week with 1,538 and 3,054, respectively.
Zetter's singles effort surpassed the 2,709 total posted by former Team USA member and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson during the 2015 event in Toronto. Diandra Asbaty of the United States owns the overall 12-game record with 2,757, achieved during doubles in Rio De Janeiro in 2007.
Though Pate didn't break any records on his way to match play Monday, he did epitomize perseverance and mental toughness, overcoming a disappointing opening block on the 41-foot World Bowling Rome oil pattern and improving each day along the way.
His 1,398 total Monday included a consistent performance with a high game of 260 and a low game of 205. He qualified sixth for match play with a 2,759 total and notes that the turning point of his day came in the middle of the 205 game.
"Today honestly was the best mentally I've been all week, and I think that was more important than any changes in equipment or game plan," Pate said. "The key was not over-reacting when I left something, and I made sure to focus on repeating the good shots, knowing they all weren't going to carry.
"I think the turning point came in the middle of the 205, when I had 98 in the fifth or sixth frame and was able to put some strikes together. Had I not stayed in that moment mentally, it easily could've been 160, and that would've taken me out of it."
Pinfall will carry over into match play, and participants will receive 20 bonus pins for each victory, with the exception of the position round. The top four bowlers after match play will advance to Tuesday's knockout-style semifinals.
The No. 1 and No. 4 players will meet in one semifinal, while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds face off in the other. The winners then will bowl for the gold medal. Semifinal losers each will receive bronze medals.
O'Keefe, Butturff and Pate all made it to the medal stand in doubles and would love the opportunity for a return trip.
As is tradition, Pan Am medalists are welcomed back to the Athlete Village by applauding athletes and coaches, something O'Keefe experienced Saturday as she walked into the dining hall wearing her gold medal.
"It would be awesome to win another medal and get to have the whole experience again, but I also don't want to get too far ahead of myself at this point," O'Keefe said. "Of course I want to win, and that's my mindset anytime I put on my shoes, but there's still a lot of bowling left. There's eight games to potentially get into the top four. I'll focus on one shot at a time, and if it's enough at the end of the day, we'll talk about what comes next."
For O'Keefe and her fellow Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour competitors in the field this week, the Pan American Games have offered them their first real competitive opportunity in over a month.
The PWBA Tour has been on hiatus since the conclusion of the U.S. Women's Open at the end of June, and they're now days away from the start of the second half of the 2019 Tour season.
"This feels like another Tour stop for me, which also is really good because it's helping me get in the right frame of mind for the second half of the season," said O'Keefe, who has collected two PWBA Tour wins so far this season. "These are the first competition games I've bowled since the U.S. Open, and it's much more valuable than just practicing. I'm also learning some things I'm sure will help me when I encounter certain situations in the future."
The 2019 Pan American Games officially kicked off Friday night with a formal opening ceremony and will continue through Aug. 11. The bowling competition, featuring 16 men's countries and 16 women's countries, will conclude Tuesday.
This year's Pan Am Games is expected to bring more than 6,700 athletes to Lima to compete in 39 sports and 61 disciplines.
Since bowling was added to the Pan American Games in 1991, Team USA has won 22 of a possible 34 gold medals and claimed 37 medals overall, 20 more than the next-closest country.
LIMA, Peru - Team USA's Shannon O'Keefe, Jakob Butturff and Nick Pate have advanced to the match-play portion of the singles event at the 2019 Pan American Games.
They are among the eight men and eight women still in contention for the gold, silver and bronze medals, and they'll be back on the lanes the Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
All competitors bowled 12 games of qualifying over two days, and total pinfall determined who moved on to round-robin match play.
Mexico's Aseret Zetter was able to maintain her spot atop the women's standings, and she finished qualifying with a 2,750 total, a 229.2 average and a record for 12 games of singles at the Pan Am Games. She is looking for her second medal of the week after claiming the silver medal in doubles with Iliana Lomeli.
Clara Guerrero of Colombia (2,729) is 21 pins behind Zetter and followed by Lomeli (2,703), Thashaina Seraus of Aruba (2,612) and O'Keefe (2,583). Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic earned the final spot in match play with a 2,529 total, a 210.8 average.
"It took me some time on each pair to get comfortable today, but I'm excited to advance, and the game plan for tomorrow will be the same as it always is for me," said O'Keefe, a 15-time Team USA member and a doubles gold medalist this week with Stefanie Johnson. "I'll try to stay patient and not freak out, try to make all my spares, execute and do what the ball is telling me. I feel like I grinded very well today, and tomorrow is another chance to use what I learned to improve."
Johnson finished 18th in singles with 2,373.
Butturff continued his record-setting ways and led the way for the men, averaging 249.3 on the way to a 2,991 pinfall total. He was followed by Jean Perez of Puerto Rico (2,955), Dan MacLelland of Canada (2,847), Lucas Legnani of Argentina (2,803) and Brazil's Marcelo Suartz (2,772). The Dominican Republic's Alex Prats earned the final spot on the men's side with a 2,702 total, an average of 225.2.
Butturff's singles performance topped the previous 12-game singles record of 2,849, rolled by his former Team USA teammate Chris Barnes at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Butturff set the overall six- and 12-game marks during doubles this week with 1,538 and 3,054, respectively.
Zetter's singles effort surpassed the 2,709 total posted by former Team USA member and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson during the 2015 event in Toronto. Diandra Asbaty of the United States owns the overall 12-game record with 2,757, achieved during doubles in Rio De Janeiro in 2007.
Though Pate didn't break any records on his way to match play Monday, he did epitomize perseverance and mental toughness, overcoming a disappointing opening block on the 41-foot World Bowling Rome oil pattern and improving each day along the way.
His 1,398 total Monday included a consistent performance with a high game of 260 and a low game of 205. He qualified sixth for match play with a 2,759 total and notes that the turning point of his day came in the middle of the 205 game.
"Today honestly was the best mentally I've been all week, and I think that was more important than any changes in equipment or game plan," Pate said. "The key was not over-reacting when I left something, and I made sure to focus on repeating the good shots, knowing they all weren't going to carry.
"I think the turning point came in the middle of the 205, when I had 98 in the fifth or sixth frame and was able to put some strikes together. Had I not stayed in that moment mentally, it easily could've been 160, and that would've taken me out of it."
Pinfall will carry over into match play, and participants will receive 20 bonus pins for each victory, with the exception of the position round. The top four bowlers after match play will advance to Tuesday's knockout-style semifinals.
The No. 1 and No. 4 players will meet in one semifinal, while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds face off in the other. The winners then will bowl for the gold medal. Semifinal losers each will receive bronze medals.
O'Keefe, Butturff and Pate all made it to the medal stand in doubles and would love the opportunity for a return trip.
As is tradition, Pan Am medalists are welcomed back to the Athlete Village by applauding athletes and coaches, something O'Keefe experienced Saturday as she walked into the dining hall wearing her gold medal.
"It would be awesome to win another medal and get to have the whole experience again, but I also don't want to get too far ahead of myself at this point," O'Keefe said. "Of course I want to win, and that's my mindset anytime I put on my shoes, but there's still a lot of bowling left. There's eight games to potentially get into the top four. I'll focus on one shot at a time, and if it's enough at the end of the day, we'll talk about what comes next."
For O'Keefe and her fellow Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour competitors in the field this week, the Pan American Games have offered them their first real competitive opportunity in over a month.
The PWBA Tour has been on hiatus since the conclusion of the U.S. Women's Open at the end of June, and they're now days away from the start of the second half of the 2019 Tour season.
"This feels like another Tour stop for me, which also is really good because it's helping me get in the right frame of mind for the second half of the season," said O'Keefe, who has collected two PWBA Tour wins so far this season. "These are the first competition games I've bowled since the U.S. Open, and it's much more valuable than just practicing. I'm also learning some things I'm sure will help me when I encounter certain situations in the future."
The 2019 Pan American Games officially kicked off Friday night with a formal opening ceremony and will continue through Aug. 11. The bowling competition, featuring 16 men's countries and 16 women's countries, will conclude Tuesday.
This year's Pan Am Games is expected to bring more than 6,700 athletes to Lima to compete in 39 sports and 61 disciplines.
Since bowling was added to the Pan American Games in 1991, Team USA has won 22 of a possible 34 gold medals and claimed 37 medals overall, 20 more than the next-closest country.