By Wishelle Banks and Aaron Smith
USBC Communications

RENO, Nev. - Two-time United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships titlist Anne Hjelmberg of Naperville, Illinois, is making a stop at the top of the tournament's leaderboard an annual occurrence.

The 23-year-old right-hander entered this year's event as the reigning Sapphire All-Events champion, and now is looking to share that winning feeling with her teammates after a successful weekend at the National Bowling Stadium.

Hjelmberg helped Naperville's Fox Bowl Ladies into the lead in Ruby Team on Sunday and teamed with Katrina Raysby of Lombard, Illinois, to take over the top spot in Ruby Doubles on Monday.

Heading into their team competition, the members of Fox Bowl Ladies had their eye on one thing - taking the lead. That determination paid off as they rolled games of 711, 793 and 726 for a 2,230 total. Altitude With Attitude of Buena Vista, Colorado, previously held the Ruby Team lead with 2,176.

Raysby, making her first USBC Women's Championships appearance, led the effort with a 584 series and was followed by Hjelmberg (563), Stefanie Quayle (557) and Tracy Wrase (526).

"We knew what scores we had to go for," said Hjelmberg, who helped Fox Bowl of Bartlett, Illinois, to the Diamond Team title in 2013. "We all knew we had to just bowl average, and we would be fine. All of us can easily average 500 for a series, and that's about what it was going to take to take the lead. We all had our good games, and when somebody was down, we picked each other up. We carried each other like a team should."

Hjelmberg and Raysby cruised past the leading Ruby Doubles score but had another doubles pair on the same squad nearly match their effort, before falling two pins short.

Raysby led the duo with a 629 set, while Hjelmberg added 543 to get them to a 1,172 total. Sissy Christy and Debbie Strong of Oklahoma City finished just behind them with 1,170, while Kelsey Farmer and Kindra Walls of Morris, Illinois, previously held the lead with 1,139.

"It was really exciting to be here," said Raysby, who added a 607 singles series for a 1,820 all-events total, landing her just inside the top 50 in Diamond All-Events. "I bowled pretty well in my first tournament. I think I got over my nerves pretty quickly."

Hjelmberg, who made her third tournament appearance, now has the opportunity to add a third and fourth title to her quickly growing resume. She would become the 10th bowler in Women's Championships history to win titles in three consecutive tournaments.

She added a 481 singles series for a 1,587 all-events total, which is just outside the top 30 in Emerald All-Events. Tamara Smith of Poncha Springs, Colorado, leads with 1,699.

After getting back into the sport in 2013, Hjelmberg credits two-time USBC Open Championships titlist Gregg Zicha, who has reached Bronze-level coaching status in his career, and his teammate Anthony Jordan, for helping her hone her skills on the lanes.

"I grew up bowling, but I didn't bowl all through high school," Hjelmberg said. "I bowled my senior year in high school, then didn't bowl in college. I started bowling competitively in 2013 and bowled in my first nationals about eight months after beginning to take it seriously. My first year, I was just the add-on. They needed a fifth bowler, and I was coming out here for the trip, either way, whether I was bowling or not. I threw my second 600 series. It really was an awesome feeling."

Teams competing in the Ruby Division have combined entering averages from 650-724, while Ruby Doubles features pairs with combined entering averages of 350-379.

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