Fast Lane
story first published in the Central Western Daily, Saturday 9 January, 1999.
The review of news from the Orange Tenpin Bowl during 1998 concludes this week.
September
In the Pee Wee Gutterstopper Championships, Tracey Bouffler won the girls' division ahead of Leigha Aurisch and Angela McClure while the boys' placings were Mark Holle (first), Jason Wright and Evan Jackson.
The 15th annual Orange Tenpin Bowling Association City Championships saw an amazing fourteen records broken. Space doesn't permit a comprehensive listing of winners but the Open Singles champions were (adults) John Cooney 674, Sharon Trudgett 584, (juniors) Greg Perry 638 and Melanie Brown 580.
For a complete listing of results and record-breakers check out the Fast Lane web site.
In the final qualifying round of the Country Challenge the Orange Mid City Motor Lodge women's team were unable to hold onto their lead, finishing second behind Bathurst with the men's team winding up fourth and missing a finals berth. Best averages were supplied by Stan Streatfeild 195 and Marilyn Schwenke 182.
League news:
Julie Wilson dominated the month, rolling 182-266-252-219 for a centre high 919/4 series that included 737 for the last three, another centre record. She was the Franklin Fresh bowler of the month.
The month saw the start of a year-end scoring explosion that included Rhearne Trudgett 265, Jason Brown 265 and 662/3, Will Harvey 678/3 and the prolific Jason Belmonte with 256, 735/3, 940/4, 1261/6 and 1280/6.
Other good efforts in September included June Bryant 1250/6, David Rosser 665/3, Greg Perry 254, 651/3 and three consecutive 800/4 blocks, John Cooney 661/3, Mark Lijic 659/3, Sharon Trudgett 670/3 and 880/4.
Commonwealth Games:
The Australian team performed brilliantly in the tenpin bowling events at the Commonwealth Games with Cara Honeychurch winning three gold medals, in the singles, doubles with Maxine Nable and mixed doubles with Frank Ryan. It was the first time bowling was a Games medal sport.
October
David Hayward added yet another victory to his impressive resume with a win in the 18th annual Victorian Deaf Masters, shooting 693/ along the way.
In the 1998 Junior Sydney Cup, Orange's Maree Caltabiano bowled well to finish sixth in the girls' division with a 187 average. Melanie Brown finished 11th and Rhearne Trudgett 14th. In the boy's division Orange was represented by Jason Brown who finished eight with a 198 average, including a 265 game, and Jason Belmonte who was 34th.
The third round of the Junior Super tournament was won by Elizabeth Holle from Kiel Bugden and Kathryn Beff. The overall winner was Joshua Hayward.
League news:
Jason Brown (pictured left) was the big news story during October, rolling a 300 game in the Auto Style Wednesday Doubles. "Chuck's" sister Melanie also got in on the act, shooting a 276 game, a junior girl centre record game (that would be broken soon after).
Other high scores during the month were recorded by Steve Reil 1317/6, Joe Werner 1250/6, Judy Streatfeild 651/3, Jason Belmonte 279 and 658/3, Sharon Trudgett 658/3, Jason Brown 653/3 and 662/3, Jason Osborne 269 and 679/3, David Hayward 277 and Mark Lijic 683/3.
John Cooney (717) and John Rapley (646) combined for a centre record doubles series of 1363. Jason Belmonte fired 245-243-257 for a 745 series, the highest ever junior series in country NSW. Peter Brown left the centre in style with a 661 series.
November
The Dubbo City Championships saw a win to Orange's Jason Belmonte in the Open All Events while Melanie Brown won the Open Singles. Other winners were Clare Hodgson (A Singles), Kath Aurisch (C grade Singles and All Events), Tony Irwin (B Singles), Chris Fuller-Grant Huggett (B Doubles) and Chris Fuller-Marg Rapley-John Rapley (Mixed Teams).
Orange won six of ten divisions in the finals of the Central West pennants. Bathurst and Dubbo picked up two events each. Jason Belmonte was on fire for Orange, averaging a Pennants record 230 for the eight games, winning seven. He rolled 1842/8 and along the way shot 712/3 and 934/4.
The third annual Ron Boulton Marine & Cycles and Harvey Norman Orange Junior Cup was won by Jarrod Lean (216 average) with Orange's Jason Belmonte (200 average) finishing third. Other locals included Greg Perry (seventh) and Jason Brown (tenth).
Orange's Kiel Bugden captured the handicap section ahead of Lewis brooks, Becky Belmonte and Kristin Byrnes.
The Orange women's team finished third in the state final of the Country Challenge series behind Bathurst and Grafton. June Bryant and Gwen Britt both averaged 189 for Orange.
Lindsay Wright and Alysia Hayward won the seventh annual OTBA Adult-Junior Doubles from Chris and Mark Holle with Chris Collins-Tim Irwin third.
Internationally, Australia's Maxine Nable won the World Cup in Japan. The Aussie men's rep Fred Allsopp finished fourth.
League news:
Best for November included junior Cameron Burley 255, Val Irwin 676/3, Steve Reil 269, 898/4 and 1254/6, Jim Dullaway 679/3, David Hayward 679/3, Tim Irwin 266, Mark Lijic 266, Sharon Trudgett 267 and 671/3, Henry Phillips 256, Jason Belmonte 667/3 and June Bryant 655/3.
December
In international news Australia's Cara Honeychurch was named as World Bowler of the Year.
League news:
Jason Osborne capped a remarkable year by rolling two 700 series in the space of three days. He first shot 712 in the Wednesday 7:30 league then 724 in the Friday Triples. Other top efforts were bowled by Bruce Clements 686/3, Judy Streatfeild 256, Greg Perry 252, Jason Brown 691/3, Wally Price 682/3, Les Gunner 673/3 and Jim Dullaway 1266/6.
Rhearne Trudgett was the December Franklin Fresh player of the month following her junior girls' record score of 277 in the Tuesday Ladies Singles, eclipsing the previous mark by a single pin.
Fast Lane Awards
Finally the annual special "Fast Lane" awards. There's no physical reward, just the honour of being named in this column and on the Internet for millions to see!
Who was the most improved player of 1998? It's impossible to limit this to just one person as there were quite a few players who either made rapid improvement to their game or pushed their game to the next level.
By the end of 1998 Jason Brown was as good as anybody at the Bowl and sported the centre's highest current average at the end of the year. He was rewarded with a 300 game in October.
Jason Osborne was tipped as a player of the future last year and he certainly made everyone take notice in 1998, shooting a 300 game (the centre's first in a tournament) as well as many other high games and a stack of 700 series. He also won the coveted City Championships Open All Events title.
Junior Greg Perry has made steady improvement over the past few years and had emerged as one of the centre's top prospects by the end of the year. He shot a number of top games this year and really lifted his average towards open level. His major achievement was a great win in the junior City Championships Open Singles.
Chris Collins started the year as a B grader but was just behind the open grade bowlers by year-end. He made the New South Wales State Walter de Veer team in 1998 and smashed a number of records in the New South Wales Country Championships.
Jason Belmonte and Mark Lijic meanwhile managed to improve on 1997 and were at the top end of the scale at 1998 year-end.
The best comeback? Probably Tony Richards who came back from a lengthy lay-off to establish a consistent 200 plus average in the Friday Triples throughout the year with a couple of big series to boot.
The biggest disappearance? Some readers may be thinking of someone else but it's impossible to go past Peter Brown. The most dominant force in bowling in Orange since the centre opened in 1984 bowled for a couple of months at the start of the year then went on a lengthy trip round Australia. He returned briefly later in the year before moving to the Central Coast. His presence on the lanes will be sorely missed.
The most deserved win? Another tough one but probably John Cooney's victory in the City Championships Open Singles. After two very close runner-up finishes to Peter Brown in the Masters, Cooney edged "Porky" for the Open Singles crown.
The most deserved selection? Jim Dullaway, along with Chris Collins qualified for the New South Wales State Walter de Veer team.
The funniest story? Without doubt the new league player who rolled his first "turkey" (three strikes in succession for non-bowlers) and thought that the feat had earned him some poultry!
Late breaking news:
Jason Brown continued his amazing recent form with a 300 game in a practice session at the Bowl on Wednesday of this week.
Juniors should have received a letter in the mail concerning two upcoming coaching clinics on 12 and 18 January. If you didn't receive a letter please contact Aldo at the Bowl for further details.
A Country Challenge meeting will be held at the Bowl on Monday evening at 7pm for all players interested in representing Orange in 1999.
Qualifying for the Bob Jane T Mart and Harvey Norman No Tap Tournament continues. Top ten at the time of writing was:
| 1 |
Jan Peters |
1176 |
| 2 |
Leo McKay |
1170 |
| 3 |
Frank McGovern |
1135 |
| 4 |
Tanya Werner |
1089 |
| 5 |
Aaron Osborne |
1073 |
| 6 |
David Rosser |
1047 |
| 7 |
Les Gunner |
1046 |
| 8 |
Jason Osborne |
1033 |
| 9 |
Marie Rosser |
1022 |
| 10 |
Jeff Hunt |
998 |
The final will be bowled on 24 January.
Entries have been flooding in for the tenth annual New South Wales Country Championships to be bowled in Orange from 30 January to 7 February so make sure you lodge your entry today to ensure a spot.
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