Nov. 25, 2017
LAS VEGASâ€â€-Vanderbilt alumni Josie Barnes and Giselle Poss bowled in the first round of singles play as the World Bowling Championships got underway Saturday.
Barnes, Vanderbilt’s assistant coach competing for the United States, got off to a strong start before seeing her scores slide after the bowlers switched sides of the house. She placed 31st in her squad with games of 201-227-212-193-169-171 for an average of 195.50. Harni Hong of Korea led all bowlers with a 221.67 average.
Poss, an All-American who graduated last year and is a member of Puerto Rico’s national team, was 43rd in the second squad with games of 189-234-161-204-157, a 189.0 average.
“I actually thought I was throwing the ball better in my later games although the scores don’t show it,” Barnes said. “I learned a lot today and look forward to our next chance to compete.”
Shannon Pluhowsky was fifth among the first squad with an average of 211.83 to lead American bowlers. Other members of Team USA are Stephanie Johnson (202.17), Danielle McEwan (197.80), Kelly Kulick (187.20) and Shannon O’Keefe (181.17).
None of the USA bowlers qualified for Monday’s semi-finals and finals as just the the top four bowlers advance.
Barnes said her next competition comes Tuesday in doubles play. She will be among the late shift for that round. Complete coverage is found on wc.worldbowling.org.
