July 19, 2013
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Natalie Goodman has been a dominant force in the last two Junior Gold tournaments and the Vanderbilt junior wrapped up the 2013 North Pointe Junior Gold with an excellent third place finish.
“I actually finished better this year than last,” Goodman said, comparing her strong Thursday and ladder performance to a year ago when she was seventh. “I had a good first day but then was not so good the second and third days so I was a bit nervous where I’d stand. My goal was to make the Top 16 ladder and then see what happened.”
What happened was Goodman led all bowlers on Thursday to make the ladder and then rattled off three straight wins to reach the Final Four (573 bowlers began on Monday), including a quarterfinal win over Nicole Parkhurst, who competes for Stephen F. Austin during the school year.
Goodman ran into a buzz saw in the semifinals, however, falling to high schooler Julia Bond before losing in the consolation final to Arkansas State’s Sarah Lokker, who is Goodman’s teammate on Junior Team USA.
Goodman, who will bowl tomorrow in the Youth Open, scoffs at the notion she has some kind of whammy on this tournament.
“We see lots of people we run into during the year at college tournaments and I suppose that raises my competitive instincts,” Goodman says, “but otherwise I don’t feel as though I arrive here with any special insight into the tournament. I work to follow my game plan, keeping calm and taking it a shot at a time.”
Amanda Fry, Goodman’s Vanderbilt teammate, also had an excellent tournament but was knocked out of the double-elimination ladder early, falling to Parkhurst and then Nebraska’s Elise Bolton.
Goodman was eagerly awaiting the post-tournament announcement of the at-large Junior Team USA selections. Should Bond win, there would be three at-large bowlers named by a blue ribbon committee since Bond already earned a spot with her first-place finish after the 25 games. Should Lokker win, there will be two at-large berths up for grabs.