By Aaron Smith and Emil Williams Jr.
USBC Communications

INDIANAPOLIS - The top 75 boys and top 43 girls in the U15 Division at the 2016 Junior Gold Championships presented by Storm, Roto Grip and Master have been determined after 16 games of qualifying over the course of the past four days.

In the boys division, Anthony Neuer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, continued his stellar performance throughout qualifying to lead the field to Friday's advancers round with a 3,303 total, a 206.44 average for 16 games.

Neuer, the 2014 U12 Boys champion, led after the opening round of qualifying Monday and has not dropped below second place throughout the competition.

Solomon Salama of Beverly Hills, California, sits in second place with 3,255, while Richard Paul III of Winton, California, and Anthony Silva of Castro Valley, California, were the only other competitors to average more than 200 for qualifying, finishing in third and fourth with 3,235 and 3,208, respectively. Jorge Rodriguez of Puerto Rico, the runner-up in U15 at the 2015 event, rounds out the top five with 3,176.

For the girls, Mabel Cummins of Elburn, Illinois, leads the way with a 3,051 total, a 190.69 average. Allie Leiendecker of Wooster, Ohio, sits in second place with 3,036, and defending U15 champion Danielle Jedlicki of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is third with 3,008. Patricia Rosales of Orlando, Florida, is fourth with 2,989, and Amanda Barna of Westminster, Maryland, is fifth at 2,969.

For Paul and Silva, both have seen their games mature through their time in the Junior Gold program.

Paul has seen continued improvement since he started his Junior Gold career at the 2013 event. After missing the first cut in 2013 and finishing in 75th, he made the first cut in 2014 on his way to cracking the top 50. Last year in Chicago, he advanced to match play on his way to finishing tied for 13th.

The 15-year-old right-hander credits his mental game in helping him continually perform well at the event.

"I came into this year a lot less prepared than I hoped, but I knew if I maintained my mental game and paid close attention to what I'm doing out there, that'd I have a good showing," said Paul, who rolled games of 236, 176, 188 and 227 on Thursday at Western Bowl for an 827 total. "You bowl bad scores out there, and I can say I've had my fair of bad shots and scores this week, but I haven't let myself get upset, and that's why it's been one of my best years. This is my last year in U15, so I'm making it count."

A strong mental approach also has helped Paul tackle a new challenge at the 2016 event. For the first time, the lane pattern information was not released prior to the beginning of competition.

"To be honest, I think it's helped me," Paul said. "I'm really not overthinking on how to play each specific pattern. I'm focusing on the fundamentals, trying to figure out how I'm going to play each lane each day and going from there."

Along with the challenge of competing against the top youth players in his age bracket, Paul has enjoyed being able to see the country throughout his four-year career at the event.

"We've driven the past four years," Paul said. "There's quite a lot of sights and landmarks. When we were coming through Missouri, we ended up getting to see the Gateway Arch, which was something I wasn't expecting to see, and that was pretty exciting. You get to see a lot of landmarks that you won't forget, and it's definitely a lot better than trying to look down on the countryside from the top of a cloud."

Silva had a rough block Wednesday, but turned things around right away Thursday after firing a 298 game to start his final block of qualifying at Expo Bowl.

"It felt pretty good since I struggled a lot yesterday," said Silva, a 15-year-old who also added games of 206, 185 and 257 for a 946 total Thursday. "I knew I need a boost with a big game, so that really helped. The pattern broke down a little bit after that, so the second and third game were pretty average, but I got it back in the fourth and ended up pretty well for the day."

Like Paul, Silva has seen his mental game improve as he made his third Junior Gold appearance this week, and already reached his first goal in making his way to Indianapolis. Now, he'll get the opportunity to improve on that goal heading into Friday's first advancers round.

"There's been a lot of physical growth in my game since I started at Junior Gold, but the mental game is most important," Silva said. "I've learned a lot while competing at this tournament. You can't get down on yourself, since there will be times that you'll struggle, but one big game can really boost you up in the tournament. My goal was to make the first cut, since I missed by about 20 pins last year. A lot of people want to win, and that would be a really good goal, but top five would be nice."

All U15 competitors who advanced from Thursday's final round of qualifying will be back on the lanes Friday morning for five additional games to determine the top 32 boys and top 24 girls who will make it to Friday's final advancers round based on total pinfall.

The final advancers round also will feature five games and determine the top 16 boys and top 16 girls who will advance to the double-elimination match-play bracket. Bracket matches will consist of two games with total pinfall determining the winner of each match.

Qualifying will conclude for the U20 Boys and Girls on Thursday evening.

BOWL.com's BowlTV will provide live coverage throughout Friday's competition at Western Bowl and Woodland Bowl, starting at 7 a.m. Eastern.