July 30, 2013
SUNRISE, Fla. – Vanderbilt Assistant Bowling Coach Josie Earnest won the gold medal in singles Tuesday as she represented Team USA at the Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas. Her former Vanderbilt teammate, Brittni Hamilton, tied for the bronze medal.
Earnest, who had a strong showing last week at the U.S. Open, had bolted into the singles lead here after six games Monday and was able to keep her wide margin advantage throughout Tuesday’s play.
“I thought last week that the patterns were more difficult,” Earnest said afterwards. “Here they seem a bit easier but one challenging thing here is that they alternate long and short (patterns) and if you start on one pattern you don’t get to warm up on the other so there is some guessing going on.”
The tournament continues all week. Tomorrow, the two former Commodore All-Americans will team up for doubles play, where Earnest thinks their familiarity will be helpful. The duo will be among the favorites in the multi-national tournament.
“Doubles is a lot of fun and we are really looking forward to it,” Josie said. “I don’t get the chance to bowl as a team too much anymore so I’m excited for the chance.”
The tournament switches to mixed doubles Thursday and Earnest said partners are not yet known.