Update 2:30 p.m., June 19:
Danielle McEwan of Stony Point and Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls have moved up to fourth and fifth place, respectively, after today's second of three eight-game match play blocks at the U.S. Women's Open at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester.
Both bowlers won seven of their eight matches with McEwan registering a high game of 279 while averaging 220 and Johnson averaged 212.5. The top five bowlers will advance to the stepladder finals on Tuesday night.
Clara Guerrero of Columbia, Bryanna Cote of Tucson, Ariz., and Diana Zavjalova of Latvia are 1-2-3 heading into tonight's final eight matches. Competition gets underway at 5 p.m.
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While Germany’s Birgit Noreiks continues to lead the pack, two New Yorkers remain in contention for Tuesday night’s stepladder finals at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Noreiks won four of her eight matches at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester on Sunday to stay on top with a 40-game total of 8.605, which includes 30 bonus pins for each victory.
Rounding out the top five are Colombia’s Clara Guerrero, (8,592), Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Ariz. (8,530), Latvia’s Diana Zavjalova (8,468), and Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Ill. (8,456). Zavjalova won all eight of her matches to jump from 10th place into fourth.
Missy Parkin of San Clemente, Calif., sits in sixth place at 8,438, followed by Danielle McEwan of Stony Point and Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls at 8,412 and 8,407, respectively.
McEwan is a former U.S. Open champion while Johnson, one of the best professional women bowlers ever, has won six U.S. Open tournaments. Johnson's many tournament wins include the New York State Queens at Mancuso Bowling Center in 1996.
The 24 match game competitors will bowl two more eight-game rounds today, the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 5 p.m., to determine the five bowlers who will vie for the $60,000 first prize on Tuesday night.
The stepladder finals will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
SUNDAY’S MATCH PLAY RESULTS (40 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie):
1, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 4-4-0, 8,605. 2, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 7-1-0, 8,592. 3, Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 6-2-0, 8,530. 4, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 8-0-0, 8,468. 5, Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 3-4-1, 8,456. 6, Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 4-4-0, 8,438.
7, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3-5-0, 8,412. 8, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 5-3-0, 8,407. 9, Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia, 5-3-0, 8,368. 10, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 6-2-0, 8,349. 11, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3-5-0, 8,295. 12, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 4-4-0, 8,266.
13, Jordan Richard, Tipton, Mich., 4-3-1, 8,246. 14, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, IN, 5-3-0, 8,238. 15, Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 2-5-1, 8,212. 16, Taylor Bulthuis, New Port Richey, Fla., 3-5-0, 8,207. 17, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 4-4-0, 8,197. 18, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 4-3-1, 8,196.
19, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis., 3-5-0, 8,096. 20, Stefanie Johnson, McKinney, Texas, 3-5-0, 8,072. 21, Olivia Farwell, Elizabethtown, Pa., 2-6-0, 8,048. 22, Verity Crawley, England, 2-6-0, 8,042. 23, Juliana Franco (n), Colombia, 2-6-0, 7,973. 24, Julia Bond, Aurora, IL, 2-6-0, 7,863.
ROUND 4 (32 games):
1, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 6,880. 2, Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 6,772. 3, Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 6,711. 4, Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 6,675. 5, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 6,659. 6, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 6,658.
7, Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 6,629. 8, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 6,624. 9, Verity Crawley, England, 6,589. 10, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 6,578. 11, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, IN, 6,560. 12, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 6,558.
13, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 6,556. 14, Stefanie Johnson, McKinney, Texas, 6,532. 15, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 6,524. 16, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 6,508. 17, Taylor Bulthuis, New Port Richey, Fla., 6,498. 18, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis., 6,478.
19, Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia, 6,469. 20, Juliana Franco (n), Colombia, 6,455. 21, Olivia Farwell, Elizabethtown, Pa., 6,449. 22, Jordan Richard, Tipton, Mich., 6,445. 23, Julia Bond, Aurora, IL, 6,404. 24, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 6,401.
DID NOT ADVANCE:
25, Haley Richard, Tipton, Mich., 6,398, $2,590. 26, Sanna Oksanen, Finland, 6,392, $2,520. 27, (TIE) Ani Juntunen, Finland, and Estefania Cobo, Puerto Rico, 6,373, $2,425. 29, Peppi Konsteri, Finland, 6,369, $2,350. 30, Ashly Galante, Palm Harbor, Fla., 6,356, $2,300.
31, Felicia Wong, Canada, 6,323, $2,250. 32, Josie Barnes, Hermitage, Tenn., 6,302, $2,200. 33, Kerry Smith, Lititz, Pa., 6,296, $2,150. 34, Hope Gramly, Aubrey, Texas, 6,293, $2,100. 35, Shannon Sellens (n), Long Beach, N.Y., 6,263, $2,050. 36, Jessica Earnest, Hermitage, Tenn., 6,210, $2,000.
