Woessner extends lead at BPAA Women's All-Star


Standings: BPAA Women's All-Star | Senior Women's U.S. Open

ROCKFORD, Ill. -
Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio, started her second day of qualifying at the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America Women's All-Star Tournament with a big game and never looked back, extending her lead over a talented field at The Cherry Bowl.

The 44-year-old right-hander averaged more than 213 for her six games Tuesday and tops the 75-player BPAA Women's All-Star standings with a 12-game total of 2,629, a 219 average. She now is 45 pins ahead of Alexis Ijams of Wichita, Kansas, who is second with 2,584, while left-hander and longtime Team USA member Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, settled into third place with 2,567.

"I am very pleased with my execution today, and I definitely feel confident going into tomorrow," said Woessner, who started Tuesday's round with a 247 game. "The last couple of games got a little tricky, and there was a lot more transition and movement today than we saw yesterday."

Woessner knew the "fresh" 39-foot lane condition would be more challenging for her, so she's especially happy she was able to extend her lead. The finally six games of qualifying Wednesday also will be contested on freshly oiled lanes, and she'll be even more prepared.

"I really just wanted to grind it out and stay clean today, which I did," Woessner said. "More than anything, I just didn't want to make a wrong move and give anything away. I drilled another ball for tomorrow that I think will be the missing piece as the lanes transition, and I'll go out and get all I can again."

Paula Vidad 100x150In the 2014 Bowling's Senior Women's U.S. Open, being held simultaneously at The Cherry Bowl, defending champion Paula Vidad of Sun City, California, closed Tuesday's second round with games of 246 and 245 to climb to the top of the leaderboard with a 12-game total of 2,394.

United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famers Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Florida, and Linda Kelly of Dayton, Ohio, are second and third with 2,348 and 2,311, respectively.

Vidad entered the day fourth among the 28 Senior Women's U.S. Open bowlers, but she has been getting more comfortable as the event has progressed.

"My confidence is really high right now, and as the week goes on, I'm getting more comfortable with the approaches and the condition and just the whole environment," Vidad said. "The conditions are a little tougher, but whether you're over or under, you just want to stay ahead of everybody. Then, when you get to match play, it changes a little, but the goals are pretty much the same."

All competitors will bowl 18 qualifying games over three days before the field is cut. The top 16 BPAA Women's All-Star Tournament participants will bowl 16 games of round-robin match play, and the top eight in the Senior Women's U.S. Open will bowl eight games of match play to determine the stepladder finalists for each event.

The Senior Women's U.S. Open stepladder finals are scheduled for Thursday, and the BPAA Women's All-Star Tournament finals will be Friday.

All qualifying, match play and championship-round competition will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. Competition resumes Wednesday at 11 a.m. EDT.

The Women's All Star Tournament, which began in 1971, was the pre-cursor to Bowling's U.S. Women's Open, which is on hiatus until 2015. This year's event will showcase today's top talent, highlight the history of women's bowling and celebrate the 40th anniversary of formation of the Ladies Pro Bowling Tour.

The Women's All-Star winner will take home $15,000, while the Senior Women's U.S. Open champion will earn $3,000.

The Senior Women's U.S. Open marks the third and final stop of the Senior Women's Triple Crown Series presented by The Orleans. The Triple Crown Series is a special competition for bowlers who compete in the United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens, National Golden Ladies Classic and Senior Women's U.S. Open.

The top 10 players in the Triple Crown standings, which combines qualifying totals from all three events, will take part in the Triple Crown Shoot-Out presented by The Orleans.

The Triple Crown Shoot-Out will be held at The Cherry Bowl immediately after the Senior Women's U.S. Open competition on July 24.

After Vidad won the 2013 Senior Women's U.S. Open, Sandelin went on to win the Triple Crown Shoot-Out later in the year.

Bowling's U.S. Open officially will return in 2015 after USBC and BPAA agreed to a three-year deal that will see USBC operate and conduct the U.S. Open for men and women in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

As part of the agreement, USBC and BPAA each will contribute at least $100,000 annually toward operating the events. Further details will be announced at a later date.

For more information on the BPAA All-Star Tournament and Bowling's Senior Women's U.S. Open, visit  BPAA.com.