July 12, 2008
UPDATED STORY NOTE:Brittni Hamilton and Jessica Earnest, younger sister of Josie Earnest, were chosen as the two at-large members of the Junior Team USA at an awards ceremony Friday evening at a downtown Detroit hotel. It is the first berth on this international team for both.
DETROIT, Mich. – Brittni Hamilton was fifth and Josie Earnest tenth in the final standings of the USBC Junior Gold Championships that concluded here Friday afternoon.
The two Commodore bowlers had battled with the nation’s most elite young amateurs all week long and both had legitimate chances to win this prestigious event.
The top four finishers plus two at-large selections make the USA Junior Gold team for 2009 international competition. Both Hamilton and Earnest could be at-large picks, which will be revealed later Friday evening.
Hamilton, the recent Webster, N.Y. graduate, was able to shake off some adversity midway through Friday’s final round-robin block to finish the marathon competition on an up-tick with an 8-8 chart.
“Brittni struck out in the 10th frame of her final game to edge Nebraska’s All-American Cassie Leuthold by five pins,” reported Vanderbilt Coach John Williamson. “She threw an outstanding 269 in Game 15 to set the stage for her finish.”
Williamson said it was a tougher day for Earnest, the first-team All-American who went 6-9-1 in her 16 head-to-head matches.
“Josie had a tough time getting her ball to react to the lane conditions,” Williamson observed. “She is a veteran in this tournament with many prior high finishes but sometimes in this sport your game doesn’t mesh with the existing conditions. It probably speaks to her stature in the sport where a tenth place finish was a struggle, not a career achievement.”
The tournament was won by Kristie Petravich of West Palm Beach, the only left-hander in the field and accordingly was able to play a fresh shot all day. (i.e. her ball’s path was not affected by the activity of the other bowling balls). She averaged over 230 for the day and went 13-3 in match play to pull away from the group.
Complete results are on www.bowl.com.