RENO, Nev. - The 3,500 mark was reached by just two teams in the first 109 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, and it now has been eclipsed twice in one week at the National Bowling Stadium.

Junior Team USA Support 1 of Mansfield, Texas, rolled games of 1,063, 1,205 and 1,253 at the 2013 USBC Open Championships on Sunday to move into second place in Regular Team with a 3,521 total, the third-highest score in tournament history. Lodge Lanes Too of Orlando, Fla., leads with a record 3,538.

"Our game plan was pretty simple," said Erik Vermilyea, who has averaged 220.3 in his eight previous Open Championships appearances. "The pattern was pretty straight forward. There are no tricks. It's challenging, but playable. We tried to play them together, really communicated a lot and almost all of us made a ball change somewhere in the middle of the second game. The big thing for us, for the entire set, was that we missed only one makeable spare and picked up three splits. We gave away nothing this set."

Steve Novak led the way with a 727 series and was joined by Vermilyea (722), Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Anthony LaCaze (715), Matthew Tuckfield, who rolled a perfect game at last year's Open Championships (706) and Jeffrey Mersch (651).

All five members of Junior Team USA Support 1 have enjoyed success at the collegiate, Junior Team USA or Team USA levels, and they continue to excel in the team-bowling environment. They finished 25th in Regular Team at the 2012 Open Championships and tied for 50th at the NBS in 2011, while Vermilyea and Mersch finished second in Regular Doubles in 2010.

"We've been fortunate enough to have bowled together long enough," Vermilyea said. "We bowled together in college, and a bunch of us bowled together on Junior Team USA. We only see each other a couple of times every year, so we prepare on our own. We come together quickly as a group once we get here. Tonight, we didn't press at all. After shooting 1,063 the first game, none of us were worried. We knew it was there."

With two frames to go Sunday, the top team spot still was reachable, but it would've required a nearly-flawless effort. Novak, LaCaze and Vermilyea all closed with four consecutive strikes, while Mersch left a 7 pin in ninth frame and Tuckfield left a 10 pin on his second shot in the final frame.

Vermilyea is all too familiar with close calls, after he and Mersch came seven pins short in doubles in 2010, despite shooting 1,507, but it's hard to be upset after shooting the third-highest team score in 110 years of competition. Bruegger's Bagels of Albany, N.Y., previously held the record with 3,537, shot in Tulsa, Okla., in 1993.

"Novak was running the numbers, so we knew what we had going into the eighth," Vermilyea said. "We knew if we got them all, we could still get there. When Jeff missed, we still knew we could get close. What Lodge Lanes did earlier this week was phenomenal. To get even near it is great. Sitting second behind them after shooting those last two games, we'll take it."

Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.