FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2015

CONTACT:
Gordon Vadakin
Phone (316) 978-7655
Fax (316) 978-6056
email - shocker.bowling@wichita.edu
www.wichita.edu/bowling

WICHITA, Kan. – At one of the largest youth tournaments in the country, the Shockers made their presence known as six made Junior Team USA 2016 and six finished in the top ten last week at the Junior Gold Championships.

Junior Gold, which took place in the area surrounding Chicago July 12-17, is supposed to begin with five games of qualifying on three different patterns. However, due to a power outage Monday morning, the tournament had to eliminate a game so qualifying was changed to 14 games. After qualifying, the field was cut to the top 200 boys and the top 109 girls. All players bowled another five games with another cut that followed to the top 64 boys and 48 girls. Those players bowled one last five game block. After the total of 24 games, the top 16 boys and 16 girls were seeded into a two-game, double elimination bracket. The top four boys and four girls who were age eligible after 24 games were also named to Junior Team USA 2016. At the end of bracket play, the final two players were also named to Junior Team USA 2016.

Sierra Kanemoto (Dayton, Ohio), an incoming sophomore, came into the week with the goal of making Junior Team USA. She did that and then some, as Kanemoto walked away with the Junior Gold Championships title. After day one of qualifying, Kanemoto found herself in 29th place. She slowly creeped her way up, easily making both cuts and was seeded into the bracket in seventh place. Kanemoto then went undefeated in the bracket play and earned her way on to the televised finals. She was down five after the first game but managed to string some strikes together for a 232 game two and the Junior Gold victory.

“Winning the tournament was icing on the cake! I really couldn't believe it since the last five years have been a struggle, with my highest finish being 31st. I’m thankful to the coaches and my teammates at WSU for improving my physical game but more importantly my mental game. During the finals, I was pretty nervous. Sydney (Brummett) and Holly (Johansen) were sitting near me and they really calmed me down. I could hear their words of encouragement and whenever I looked at them, they would smile or make goofy faces at me. It was at that point that I stopped shaking and just had fun,” Kanemoto said.

Incoming sophomores Sydney Brummett (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Hollyann Johansen (Wichita, Kan.) never found themselves outside of the top ten. The two girls easily made it through both cuts and finished the 24 games with averages over 200. Johansen led the way in second place while Brummett was close behind in third. By finishing in the top four, both girls were automatically placed on Junior Team USA 2016. This was the first time for Johansen.

“I was never really nervous since I didn't know until later that the top four were automatic spots,” Johansen said. “I was really focused on making good shots. I was confident in every shot I threw and I attribute that to all the training we did over the past year at WSU.”

This was the second year Brummett had made the team and she was fresh off a couple medals, including a masters gold medal, from the PABCON Youth Championships in Panama.

“It feels even better making the team for a second time. It’s some sort of validation that all my hard work is paying off,” said Brummett. “Going to Panama and being able to represent our country did make me realize how much I wanted to have the opportunity to be a part of that for another year.”

Brummett finished the tournament in fourth while Johansen finished in seventh after the bracket.

It was quite a different story on the men’s side. Soon to be freshman Brandon Biondo (Carpentersville, Ill.) battled his way back after a rough start (797th place after round one) to make the first cut. During the next ten games, he slowly made his way up and was seeded eighth in the bracket. Like Sierra, he went undefeated in bracket play and made it to the show, also granting him a spot on Junior Team USA 2016. Biondo finished second after the finals were completed.

“After the first day, I had to remind myself this tournament is a marathon, not a sprint. I started taking things one shot at a time and put my whole heart into it,” Biondo said. “During match play, my plan was to stay as far right as possible and lower my rev rate. I knew where I was playing there wasn't going to be much over under and I could keep my ball in play.”

Thomas Peters (Belleville, Ill.), a sophomore for this upcoming year, was quite surprised when he made Junior Team USA. Peters had steady qualifying rounds the first two days but really lit them up day three when he bowled a 300 game one of the final day of qualifying. He found himself in second after the qualifying and easily made the next two cuts. He was the sixth seed for match play, barely missing out on an automatic spot, or so he thought. Dallas Leong led the tournament but was not age eligible to be on the team, so the person in fifth was awarded his spot. The next morning, Peters received a phone call from a WSU teammate saying he did in fact make the team. One of the people ahead of him who received an automatic spot on the team was disqualified from the tournament; Peters was next on the list and granted a place on Junior Team USA 2016.

“After I was eliminated from the bracket I was bummed I didn't get the automatic spot. Tyler Cruz called the next day to tell me I made it and I was so happy!” Peters said. “This is the biggest dream I’ve ever had in bowling. It’s awesome to see all the lessons I learned at WSU and all the hard work I put into this sport finally pay off.”

Recent signee Kamron Doyle (Brentwood, Tenn.), who will join the Shockers in 2016, made one of the biggest comebacks ever at Junior Gold. After the first two rounds of qualifying, Doyle found himself in 407th place. On day three, Kamron averaged 216 to jump into 113th place and made the first cut. In the next round, Kamron averaged just over 210 and jumped again to 39th place. Then the real show started. In the final qualifying round, Doyle averaged 242 to jump to third and gain the automatic spot on Junior Team USA for the fifth time.

“It does not feel any differently to make the team for the fifth year. The feeling of representing your country never gets old,” said Doyle. “After day two, I got my head in gear and decided I was going to make the biggest comeback Junior Gold has ever seen. I was committed to doing that. Even though I had some bad games in the finals, I never gave up and fought until that last ball that put me in third place. I was thrilled.”

Doyle finished the tournament tied for ninth while Peters finished tied for twelfth.

Brandon Martin (Derby, Kan.), who has been on the developmental team for two years, also fought his way up into the top sixteen. Martin used a huge last five game block, averaging 229, to jump from 21st place into sixth for bracket play. He lost his first match, but persevered through three more matches before being eliminated. He finished the tournament tied for fifth.

The Shockers had a number of good performances throughout the week, including Alex Lankford (Moon Township, Penn.) finished 36th, Jack Stewart (Park City, Kan.) finished 63rd, Packy Hanrahan (Greenwich, Conn.) finished 97th and Ashlyn Herzberg (Wichita, Kan.) finished 112th.

Shocker Bowling now has 55 players that have been or are currently on Team USA or Junior Team USA. Of those 55, 78% have come to Wichita State before making the team.

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The Rhatigan Student Center has been the major financial and administrative supporter of the Wichita State University bowling program since 1959.