2023 Junior Gold Notebook - Round 1

FULL STANDINGS

INDIANAPOLIS – The qualifying portion of the 2023 Junior Gold Championships got underway Monday as bowlers in each of three age-based divisions for boys and girls (18-and-under, 15-and-under and 12-and-under) completed their first four-game qualifying block.

U18 Girls
Lauren Hunter of Smithton, Illinois, shot scores of 222, 217, 257 and 276 to grab the opening-round lead in the U18 girls field with a 972 total, which was good for a 243 average.

Amanda Lang of Oviedo, Florida, used a 268 in Game 2 to post a second-place total of 921.

Katelyn Abigania of San Diego, who won the U12 girls title in 2018 and 2019, fired 888 to secure third. Alyssa Marlowe of Fort White, Florida (866), and Kaitlyn Stull of Raleigh, North Carolina (864), rounded out the top five.

U18 Boys
Connor Rogus of Macomb, Michigan, didn’t just lead the U18 boys on Monday; he bested the entire field of more than 3,250 bowlers competing at Junior Gold 2023 with a four-game total of 1,017, which was good for a 254.25 average.

Gavin Manion of Melbourne, Florida, finished just behind Rogus with 997. Traeten Henrichsmeyer of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was third with 961 while Solomon Johnson of Merritt Island, Florida, shot 945 to claim fourth. Elias O’Hollaran of San Diego, was fifth with 944.

U15 Girls
Bella Castillo of Odessa, Texas, led the U15 girls by more than 100 pins on Monday. Castillo  used games of 221, 235, 254 and 236 to grab the lead with a four-game total of 946.

Malayna Calo of Seminole, Florida, secured second place with 842.

Larielle Tharps of Orlando, Florida, the 2012 Junior Gold U12 girls runner up, shot 833, which was good enough to place third.

Lindsay Greim of Poway, California, started with 232 and closed with 213 to move into fourth place with 829. Anna Antony of Farmington, Connecticut, sits alone in fifth with 828.

U15 Boys
Dylan Harnden of Shelby Township, Michigan, broke 230 three times in four-games (233, 279 and 259) to come in with a total of 965, which was good enough to lead the pack in the U15 boys division.

Braden McDonough of Coppell, Texas, used a 278 in Game 1 and a 238 in Game 4 to move into second place with 951. Dawson Kohl of Dyersville, Iowa, was third with 935. Brandon Rother of San Diego was fourth with 889 while Carston Guess of Iowa City, Iowa, grabbed fifth with 882.

U12 Girls
Alexandra McCowan of Anaheim, California, used a big finish to work her way to the top of the U12 girls standings. She finished her set with games of 216 and 254 to set the pace with a four-game total of 800.

Last year’s U12 runner up, Kennedi Spears of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, secured second place with 700.

Alyssa Randisi of Brooklyn, New York (690); Karissa Kamada of Mililani, Hawaii (682) and Kylie Oppedisano of Trumbull, Connecticut (680) took the remaining spots in Monday’s U12 girls top five.

U12 Boys
Tatum Lee of Minot, North Dakota, broke 200 (204, 224, 244 and 245) during each game of Monday’s set to come in with a four-game total of 917 and establish an 87-pin lead over Miles Gordon of Columbus, Ohio (830), atop the U12 boys standings.

Noah Wood of Mount Morris, Michigan, used a Game 2 score of 258 to land in third place with 788. Kristofer Wagner of Deland, Florida, was fourth with 784. Dylan Scaffede of Mishawaka, Indiana, rounded out the top five with 779.

Klemencic captures top spot among defending champs on Day 1

Erin Klemencic of Powder Springs, Georgia, put together a strong performance on what was otherwise a pedestrian opening day for the six defending Junior Gold champions competing in Indianapolis this week.

Klemencic shot a high game of 236 and a low of 199 en route to an 842 total (a 210.5 average), which was good enough for eighth place in the field of nearly 590 bowlers competing in the U18 girls division this year.

Defending U15 girls champ Avery Domaguin of San Diego was the only other 2023 champion to land inside the top 50 in his or her division on Monday. Domaguin’s four-game total of 785 put her 46th in the U18 girls standings with three rounds of qualifying to go before the cut to the Advancers Round is made.

Perfect start
No matter how the final standings shake out, Garrett Andrus of Austin, Texas; Harcourt Husbands of Titusville, Florida; and Raiden Nakagawa of Kaneohe, Hawaii, are guaranteed to leave the 2023 Junior Gold Championships with at least one positive memory.

That’s because each young man managed to fire a perfect game during Monday’s opening round of qualifying in the U18 boys division.

Andrus notched his 300 during Game 2 of Round 1 while Husbands and Nakagawa recorded theirs during Game 3.