Two teens from Sarnia have won gold in the junior mixed teams event at a five-pin national bowling championship, recently held in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Coach Tammy Ottonello said the championship consisted of two tournaments, one of which saw the girls bowl in a mixed-team format with the junior boys provincial champions.
"Which is seven games of just scratch bowling, high score wins, so that's what they won the gold medal on," Ottonello said.
"Calgary finished in second place and Saskatchewan finished in third."
First, second, and third place winners in the junior mixed teams event at the YBC National Championships. May 2023. (Photo courtesy of Tanya Milner)
Ottonello said the doubles portion of the tournament was a 14-game round-robin match where the teens bowled against each province for one point per match.
"The match-play event didn't go exactly how we wanted it to go. The girls did finish as the highest-scoring double girls team but they finished fourth in the match play event," Ottonello said.
It's hoped the two can compete on a national level again in the near future.
The YBC National Championships is an annual tournament but Ottonello said there are many stages to go through in order to attend. After qualifying in-house during regular league bowling season, competitors have to win regionals -- which for this area, is from Windsor to Ingersoll -- and then they have to win on a provincial level in order to move on to nationals.
"So there's quite a few steps to get here so it's not an easy thing to do but those girls are pretty talented and we're hoping that we get there again someday," Ottonello.
Overall, Ottonello said she's "super proud" of Keating and Milner's performance and happy for the experiences they gained.