July 16, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — It was another stellar day for Vanderbilt bowling as three Commodores enter today’s semi-finals in the top six of what once was a field of 524 elite amateurs.
Wednesday was Brittni Hamilton’s turn to light it up. The Vanderbilt sophomore, who flew from the Pan American Federation Games in Bogota, Colombia straight to Indianapolis Sunday, was consistently special with games of 214-194-222-228-268-226 over lanes that baffled many others. She has a composite score of 3,760 (+160).
The Webster, N.Y. product is 61 pins ahead of another Rochester-area bowler, Kim Yioulous and 69 ahead of Vandy teammate Josie Earnest, the second-day leader who managed a 1,202 Wednesday despite never completely matching up on the lanes. She suffered five splits in one game as an example of her challenge.
Incoming Commodore freshman Kim Carper continues to impress with her steady and strong play. She is in sixth place heading into Thursday at +51.
Nebraska transfer Kayla Rhoades turned in a 1,252 performance Wednesday and shot into the Top 20 at No. 17, easily making the semi-final cut of 78. It wasn’t as easy for Vandy junior Brittany Garcia, who needed finishing games of 223-203 to survive the cut by a mere seven pins.
Freshman Courtney Morgan had the reverse fortunes, struggling in her last games and just missing the cut by nine pins. Freshmen Sarah O’Brien and Lauren Rhein also didn’t make the cut.
The semi-finals and finals will also become an endurance test of sorts. Each day will consist of 16 games, not just eight, with different oil patterns for the morning and afternoon sessions.
The semi-final field will be trimmed to just 16 for Friday’s finals, which are set up as match play but pin total is still the main criteria.