18
- October 2016
PWBA Shine At 2016 PABCON
Adult Championships
By
As the charter bus rolled through the streets of Cali,
Colombia, countless conversations mixed with the wel-
comed hum of the air conditioning as dozens of players
and coaches sat and relaxed for the first time in nearly
12 hours.
While different languages may have made the dia-
logue incomprehensible to some, the content likely was
the same, with competitors from 15 countries recapping
the day on the lanes at the 2016 Pan American Bowling
Confederation Adult Championships. Regardless, eve-
ryone present was connected by two common passions
- bowling and competing for their countries.
About six rows behind the driver, phone in hand and
trying to be heard above the chatter without yelling,
Colombian Maria Rodriguez repeated herself,
"hamburguesa con queso, hamburguesa no tomate,
pollo y arroz...."
Just minutes after being beaten out of the trios gold
medal at Bolera Departamental, the 2014 USBC
Queens champion was ordering dinner for her team
and the members of Team USA, three of whom just
rallied to deny her a spot at the top of the medal stand
in her home country.
The act of hospitality and sportsmanship was one of
many throughout the weeklong event, where Rodriguez
and her teammates played host, interpreter, travel
agent, concierge, tour guide and more, all while per-
forming admirably in front of friends, family and the
hometown fans.
As competitors, the Colombians are talented and
fierce and have settled comfortably among the top per-
formers on the PWBA Tour.
However, Rodriguez, her teammates and most of the
PWBA players, are able to leave that ferocity on the
lanes. Once their bowling shoes come off, the PWBA
Tour stars are friends, roommates and confidants.
"It's always hard when you get beat, but we left it all
out on the lanes, along with quite a few pins," Rodri-
guez said. "We sat in the stands together and watched
(Team USA), which is all we could do, and they bowled
incredible. These events have some great bowlers, and
you always know you'll have to be at your best to win.
After five or 10 minutes off by yourself, all you can do is
congratulate them on the win."
The next day, the momentum swung in favor of the
home team. Colombia opened the team event with an
intimidating 1,218 game, making a statement and build-
ing a lead that would prove to be crucial.
Colombia would hold a 135-pin advantage over the
United States after five of the six team games in what
would end up being a two-team race for the gold.
Neither team had a particularly strong start in the final
game, but Team USA used a late surge to eliminate the
deficit. Until a 7-10 split and a missed single pin in the
final frame, it looked like the United States might be
able to shut out an unraveling Colombian team.
Instead, the U.S. left just enough room for Colombia
to take its first women's team title at PABCON.
After Juliana Franco tossed three strikes in her 10th
frame, two of the PWBA Tour's biggest stars sealed the
deal. Rocio Restrepo and Clara Guerrero did what
they've dreamed of, and many expected them to do, as
they both doubled in the final frame to win gold, just 11
pins ahead of the United States.
The United States had won the PABCON women's
team event on 15 of the previous 17 opportunities,
while Colombia was looking to claim its first - on its
home soil. The first ones to congratulate the Colombian
team? The Team USA women.
Bowling has brought them together, and the opportu-
nity to compete for a living with the re-launch of the
PWBA Tour in 2015 has united them for a few common
causes - promoting women's bowling, giving bowling
fans the chance to see the best women in the world
compete and giving young female bowlers something
to strive for.
"Especially with the PWBA Tour, we've developed
friendships and enjoy spending time with each other
when we're not bowling, whether we go to dinner or
grab a drink or just hang out," Rodriguez said. "Cali is
not my city, but it's in my country, so I tried my best to
make sure everyone had a good time and didn't have
any trouble. It can be a challenge when you don't
speak the language, and it was my pleasure to help
everyone enjoy Colombia."
The 2016 PWBA Tour season included bowlers from
nearly two dozen countries with Restrepo (twice) and
Guerrero each claiming titles, along with Singapore's
Bernice Lim, Cherie Tan and New Hui Fen.
Four of the six Team USA women in Cali for the 2016
PABCON Adult Championships also found the winner's
circle on the PWBA Tour this year.
Many others among the 79 women in the PABCON
field also were PWBA Tour regulars or dabblers during
the 2016 season.
Not that the talent level in previous PABCON events
wasn't top-notch, but it was clear the players were
more prepared and confident.
During the 14-week PWBA Tour season, which ended
the first weekend of September, the players competed
individually, but with years of bowling for their countries
and colleges, the transition to being part of a team was
as seamless as Rodriguez, now a resident of Austin,
Texas, ordering dinner in Spanish for 15 people.
"We're definitely more prepared, since we just got
done with the 14-week season, and we got to bowl in
different places on a variety of lane conditions," Plu-
howsky said. "The mindset is a little bit different in the
team environment now, compared to the Tour, where
you're bowling individually, but it was pretty easy to get
back in that mode. For a long time, we only had a few
events outside of Team USA, so most of our experi-
ence was together as a group."
Many Team USA players have been part of the pro-
gram for years, even spending time together on Junior
Team USA, so there's already a special bond. Add in
more than a dozen weeks of travel for the PWBA Tour,
and they're spending more time together than ever
before.
"As a group, we're pretty close, and being together
week in and week out adds to that," Pluhowsky said.
"Of course, we have people we hang out and travel
with, but we're still one team, and we all love competing
together for our country."
Team USA and Colombia definitely outshined the rest
of the field at the 2016 PABCON Adult Championships,
claiming 16 of the 19 medals up for grabs at Bolera
Departamental.
The United States took gold in singles (Parkin), trios
(O'Keefe, Earnest, Pluhowsky) and Masters
(Pluhowsky), silver in team and bronze in singles
(Coté), trios (McEwan, Coté, Parkin), all-events
(McEwan) and Masters (O'Keefe, Parkin).
Colombia won gold in doubles, team and all-events,
silver in singles, trios and all-events and bronze in dou-
bles.
Mexico earned a silver medal in Masters courtesy of
PWBA standout Sandra Gongora and bronze in team,
while the silver in doubles went to a pair of USBC Col-
legiate players from Aruba, Kamilah Dammers and
Thashaina Seraus.
Again, much of the players' success simply was be-
cause they're incredibly talented and well-coached, but
the competitive year on the PWBA Tour definitely ele-
vated the performance level.
"This all has been such a great experience, and get-
ting to bowl 14 events on different patterns this year
really helped me develop more as a bowler," Restrepo
said. "It gave me the opportunity to get to know my
arsenal and what I'm able to do physically, especially
on the short patterns, which I struggled on in the past."
Restrepo, a former standout at Wichita State, proved
how far she's come by collecting four medals at the
PABCON Women's Championships, which was con-
tested on the 36-foot Beijing oil pattern. She won dou-
bles with Guerrero, earned silver in trios with Guerrero
and Rodriguez, stepped up to help with team and fin-
ished with silver in all-events behind Guerrero.
"I feel much sharper this week because of the PWBA
Tour, but I'm also much more calm about the tourna-
ment and bowling itself," Restrepo said. "All the extra
games this year really helped me be strong and pre-
pared. It also helped me learn what some of my weak-
nesses were, so I could work on those things with my
coaches."
Another focus for Restrepo has been on simplifying
her equipment selection and relying on the things she
can do physically to make a six-ball arsenal far more
versatile. Some Abralon pads, polish, different hand
position or speed variation could expand the possibili-
ties tenfold.
"I don't think I would've learned the things I did or
been able to accomplish what I have if I didn't bowl as
much and on as many patterns," Restrepo said.
"Winning on Tour also gives you a lot more confi-
dence."
Being in her home country and a familiar bowling cen-
ter definitely helped Restrepo's confidence at the PAB-
CON Championships.
The Colombian team trials take place at Bolera De-
partamental each year, so there's some familiarity and
comfort just walking in the door.
Additionally, the men bowled first this year, so Colom-
bia's coaches were able to take great notes about the
tendencies of the center with the region's top talent on
the lanes.
But, beyond all the studying and science and confi-
dence from a successful year on the PWBA Tour,
there's one common denominator for those who carried
the momentum of a successful PWBA season into a
memorable event representing their native lands - hard
work and dedication.
The players openly and clearly are grateful for the
chance to bowl for a living, and they'll do all they can to
keep it going.
"With the Tour back, I'm definitely more focused on
staying active and making sure I'm in better shape,
which includes more time at the gym than before," Plu-
howsky said. "It's important to be strong physically and
mentally for the long season and sometimes long days
of competition. It's such a great opportunity. We all
want to be at our best and succeed individually. We
also want to see the PWBA Tour succeed, too."
