Lorraine Berryhill and Mary Quintana are national bowling champions.
At least, after a little uncertainty reigned just a half-hour before the duo began their title-winning doubles performance.
When Quintana woke up, she hauled her luggage to her car, thinking her team would call her.
“They didn’t call,” she said. In fact, when she called them, “They said ‘we are already here!’” she recalled.
Her partner, Berryhill, remembered, “I was worried a little bit.” She wondered, “‘Where’s my partner? Where’s my partner?’”
Quintana called, but Berryhill’s phone was tucked away. Quintana reached the Baton Rouge alleys five minutes after the bowlers were scheduled to arrive for the 2017 United States Bowling Congress women’s national tournament.
With her need to rush to be ready for an 8 a.m. bowl – the duo typically doesn’t compete that early – some essentials went by the wayside.
“I didn’t get any breakfast – I didn’t get any coffee,” she joked, adding: “I’m usually the on-time person.”
After the tournament began, the duo thought they were in trouble (contestants must ask permission to go to the bathroom) when a tournament official, who monitors lanes, called them to the side.
Instead, he said “keep doing what you are doing.” He could see that a new high mark for the playoff was on its way, Quintana explained.
The two won their title over a “couple thousand” other pairs in their division.
To win it all, Quintana and Berryhill bowled 29 and 34 points higher than the median score of bowlers in their division.
Linda Marrelli, whose Gateway Lanes is a practice venue for both men’s and women’s teams in the area, noted that the lane conditions were “different.”
Berryhill said the lanes at the Raising Canes River Center were more “bouncy” than the wood at Gate way Lanes, being synthetic.
The tournament runs from mid-April to mid-July. That means that Quintana and Ber ryhill had to wait for 29 more days of competition go by without their scores being beaten.
“It was 29 days worth of torture,” said Berryhill, who was still wary even after the tournament is over.
I’ll celebrate when the check is in hand,” she said. Cash prizes will be awarded to top finishers at the end of the month.
Berryhill was motivated to perform well to help her partner.
“I didn’t want to let her down,” she said. Berryhill became Quintana’s partner for the tournament only after one broke her back and another bowed out of the pairing. The two have 73 combined years of bowling experience.
“I didn’t pay attention to anything else,” Berryhill added.
The two thought ahead to next year, when they compete as the reigning champions in Reno.
“I just hope Lorraine bowls with me next year,” Quintana said.
Six other Carbon County women competed in the playoff, Marrelli said. Bonnie Ryan, another local competitor, took fifth. Another two- and a four-woman team from the same group took 24th in doubles and 60th overall (among 22,000 teams), Marrelli added.
“I am so proud of these women,” said Marrelli, another tournament competitor. “You have to travel across the country; you are bowling in unfamiliar territory. … They keep going under pressure. I can’t say enough.”
Duo win women’s bowling national title
Duo