July 7, 2009
Editor’s Note: Vanderbilt All-American Brittni Hamilton won a Gold Medal for the United States at the Pan-American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships Tuesday. She blogs about her experiences in Bogota, Colombia with Junior Team USA.
On Monday we competed in the singles event. Christine Bator and I bowled at 11 a.m. while Jenn Boiselle and Kristie Petravich bowled later in the afternoon. Christine bowled very well and ended up winning the Gold, averaging 224 for the day. Jenn also bowled well as she won the bronze. As for Kristie and myself we finished 5th and 9th. As for the boys, Jake Peters was the only one to medal as he won the silver. Overall Monday was a success for Team USA.
For just about all Monday we were in the bowling center watching the competition. We even ate our meals there. At the center there are waiters and waitresses walking around all day taking orders for food. This can be very difficult since the menus are completely in Spanish and the waiters/waitresses do not speak very much English. Most of the time when one of us wants to order food we have to ask a friend from another country to help us.
Most of us already know some people on other teams. I know a couple of girls from teams that we bowl against in the NCAA. Also throughout the week we have been making friends with players from different countries. It may be hard to communicate sometimes but for the most part players from other countries have a basic understanding of English and we help each other learn.
Today (Tuesday) we bowled the doubles event. I was partnered with Christine while Jenn and Kristie were partners. After the two girls squads were complete Christine and I finished on top (Recap). We were the only doubles team to average over 200. Jenn and Kristie finished in third for the bronze, only four pins behind Colombia who finished with the Silver. As for the boys Jake Peters and Chris Pierson won the gold medal, Geoffry Young and Danny Spink won the Silver medal. Again, today was a big success for Team USA.
It is now about 11:30 p.m. we just got back to the hotel a little bit ago. It was a very long, but amazing day. On Wednesday we bowl the Trios event. GO USA!!!!!
Read Hamilton’s Previous Blogs:
Monday, July 6
