Liz Johnson leads Day 1 of qualifying at 2026 USBC Queens
May 15, 2026
FULL RESULTS
LAS VEGAS – Less than a month after she successfully defended her United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens title, Liz Johnson of Orlando, Florida, secured the opening-round lead at the 2026 USBC Queens, which is being contested at Gold Coast Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
The 52-year-old right-hander reached the top of the standings in the 199-player field on Thursday thanks to a five-game score of 1,248 (a 249.6 average), which included games of 247, 226, 226, 280 and 269.
That effort put Johnson, a USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer and two-time Queens champ (2009 and 2015), 22 pins ahead of her closest pursuer, Syazwani Sahar of Malaysia, who placed second during Round 1 with a five-game mark of 1,226.
The remaining spots in the opening-round top five went to Colombia’s Juliana Botero (1,225), Japan’s Chika Terashita (1,217) and Carlene Beyer of Ogdensburg, Wisconsin (1,207).
Defending champion Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tennessee, finished tied for 40th place on Day 1 with a five-game score of 1,112.
Desiree Buchert of San Antonio and Barnes’ sister Jessica Earnest of Hermitage, Tennessee, came in at 1,042 and 1,040, respectively, on Thursday; nevertheless, the two had the distinction of being the only athletes to achieve perfection during Round 1 as Earnest shot 300 during Game 5 of A Squad qualifying to start the day while Buchert recorded 12 strikes in a row to close out B Squad’s fifth game just a few hours later.
Even though Johnson didn’t achieve perfection on Thursday, the 25-time PWBA Tour titlist and 10-time major champion couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the 2026 Queens.
“The mentality I’ve always had at the Queens over the years is just to get a good enough score to make it match play because that’s when the new tournament starts,” Johnson said. “I try to stay patient and not worry about leading or being in the top five; I just have to get there. Sixty-fourth is good enough.”
That’s because, following Saturday’s final qualifying block, the top 63 qualifiers plus Barnes will move on to the double-elimination match-play bracket, which starts Sunday and will feature three-game total-pinfall matches.
Alyssa Ferraro of Deltona, Florida, and Brooke Roberts of Port Orange, Florida, finished tied for 64th on Thursday with matching totals of 1,088.
The duo still has quite a bit of work to do in order punch their tickets to match play, however, as all competitors still have 10 games of qualifying to go before the first cuts are made.
Johnson and the rest of the athletes on A Squad will return to Gold Coast at 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday for their second five-game qualifying block. B Squad will kick off Round 2 action at noon Eastern.
Despite the long road ahead in this year’s tournament, Johnson feels good about where she’s at both mentally and physically.
“I feel pretty confident right now with how I’m throwing the ball, and my body feels good,” Johnson said. “I know what my equipment does and when to change or not to change, so everything is kind of coming together.
“My physical fitness, what I do off the lanes, has really helped me on the lanes. My endurance is better; I don’t get as tired, and it’s helped me avoid injury. In my mind, I feel as strong at 52 as I was maybe even at 22.”
Given Johnson’s legendary career and legacy of winning, that statement is unlikely to go unnoticed by the rest of the competitors in this year’s Queens field and to those she’ll battle week in and week out during the remainder of the 2026 PWBA Tour season.
Match play at the 2026 Queens will take place on Sunday and Monday until two athletes are left in the Winners Bracket and four bowlers remain in the Elimination Bracket.
The final two undefeated bowlers in this year’s field will square off for the No. 1 seed for Tuesday’s live TV finals show while the final four in the Elimination Bracket will bowl for the last three spots in the stepladder finals.
The stepladder will begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network, where the winner will receive the coveted tiara and top prize of $60,000. All competition leading up to the televised finals will be streamed live only on BowlTV.
Because of the five-player stepladder format and live TV broadcast, the top seed will only have to be defeated once during the stepladder finals in order to be denied the 2026 Queens title.
CLICK HERE for more information on the USBC Queens.
LAS VEGAS – Less than a month after she successfully defended her United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens title, Liz Johnson of Orlando, Florida, secured the opening-round lead at the 2026 USBC Queens, which is being contested at Gold Coast Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
The 52-year-old right-hander reached the top of the standings in the 199-player field on Thursday thanks to a five-game score of 1,248 (a 249.6 average), which included games of 247, 226, 226, 280 and 269.
That effort put Johnson, a USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer and two-time Queens champ (2009 and 2015), 22 pins ahead of her closest pursuer, Syazwani Sahar of Malaysia, who placed second during Round 1 with a five-game mark of 1,226.
The remaining spots in the opening-round top five went to Colombia’s Juliana Botero (1,225), Japan’s Chika Terashita (1,217) and Carlene Beyer of Ogdensburg, Wisconsin (1,207).
Defending champion Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tennessee, finished tied for 40th place on Day 1 with a five-game score of 1,112.
Desiree Buchert of San Antonio and Barnes’ sister Jessica Earnest of Hermitage, Tennessee, came in at 1,042 and 1,040, respectively, on Thursday; nevertheless, the two had the distinction of being the only athletes to achieve perfection during Round 1 as Earnest shot 300 during Game 5 of A Squad qualifying to start the day while Buchert recorded 12 strikes in a row to close out B Squad’s fifth game just a few hours later.
Even though Johnson didn’t achieve perfection on Thursday, the 25-time PWBA Tour titlist and 10-time major champion couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the 2026 Queens.
“The mentality I’ve always had at the Queens over the years is just to get a good enough score to make it match play because that’s when the new tournament starts,” Johnson said. “I try to stay patient and not worry about leading or being in the top five; I just have to get there. Sixty-fourth is good enough.”
That’s because, following Saturday’s final qualifying block, the top 63 qualifiers plus Barnes will move on to the double-elimination match-play bracket, which starts Sunday and will feature three-game total-pinfall matches.
Alyssa Ferraro of Deltona, Florida, and Brooke Roberts of Port Orange, Florida, finished tied for 64th on Thursday with matching totals of 1,088.
The duo still has quite a bit of work to do in order punch their tickets to match play, however, as all competitors still have 10 games of qualifying to go before the first cuts are made.
Johnson and the rest of the athletes on A Squad will return to Gold Coast at 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday for their second five-game qualifying block. B Squad will kick off Round 2 action at noon Eastern.
Despite the long road ahead in this year’s tournament, Johnson feels good about where she’s at both mentally and physically.
“I feel pretty confident right now with how I’m throwing the ball, and my body feels good,” Johnson said. “I know what my equipment does and when to change or not to change, so everything is kind of coming together.
“My physical fitness, what I do off the lanes, has really helped me on the lanes. My endurance is better; I don’t get as tired, and it’s helped me avoid injury. In my mind, I feel as strong at 52 as I was maybe even at 22.”
Given Johnson’s legendary career and legacy of winning, that statement is unlikely to go unnoticed by the rest of the competitors in this year’s Queens field and to those she’ll battle week in and week out during the remainder of the 2026 PWBA Tour season.
Match play at the 2026 Queens will take place on Sunday and Monday until two athletes are left in the Winners Bracket and four bowlers remain in the Elimination Bracket.
The final two undefeated bowlers in this year’s field will square off for the No. 1 seed for Tuesday’s live TV finals show while the final four in the Elimination Bracket will bowl for the last three spots in the stepladder finals.
The stepladder will begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network, where the winner will receive the coveted tiara and top prize of $60,000. All competition leading up to the televised finals will be streamed live only on BowlTV.
Because of the five-player stepladder format and live TV broadcast, the top seed will only have to be defeated once during the stepladder finals in order to be denied the 2026 Queens title.
CLICK HERE for more information on the USBC Queens.