TRACI WARREN MEMORIAL OPEN

champs Andy Byer & Kayla Goad

   On a bittersweet day for the whole JBT family, Andy Byer and Kayla Goad added a little extra 'sweet' with wins at the JBT Traci Warren Memorial Open, hosted by AMF Deer Valley.

   The scratch division used our exciting 'PBA Format', with a cut to the top 16 followed by best 2-of-3 head to head matches.  In the round of 8, #5 Bill Grant got by #14 Brian Ballard; defending champ #13 Eric Rubin beat #11 Randy Cote; top seed Andy Byer eliminated #9 Mike Cross, and #2 Theo Douthit escaped #7 Jerod Florez.

  In the semifinal rounds, Byer eliminated Rubin 266-207, while Grant ousted Douthit 236-190 to set up an all New-Mexico title match.  Byer had cruised through qualifying on the demanding condition, and despite a lower-scoring match, was in control against Grant as well.  He won the match 192-176 for his lucky 13th JBT title.

  The handicap finals began with Shawn Thomas rolling a 236 to beat Brandon Longo (219) and Andrew Farris 199).  A much higher scoring round two had Rebeca Reguero firing a big 257 to eliminate Thomas (234) and Zachary Pelfrey (173).  In another strike-filled semifinal, Kayla Goad's 245 was good enough to beat Reguero (239) and Joey Longo (205) to reach the title match.

  Top seed Rachelle Davis was enjoying her best result of the season so far, but ran into a red-hot Goad.  Kayla stayed confident all match and rolled to a 224-183 win, and her first career JBT victory.

  This event marked the 400th tournament in the JBT's Southwest / Northwest history, something we're very proud of and couldn't have done without the support of our bowlers and countless others.  It was also a time of reflection for our extended JBT family, to remember Traci, who we lost way too soon, and all the others who we miss very much, recent or not.

  114 bowlers competed in the event.   Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2007 JBT Arizona Invitational Tournament, the regular season's year end event, featuring a guaranteed minimum $1,000 first place scholarship in each division.  Top season-long point scorers also qualify for the 2007 JBT Touring Players' Championship, featuring a guaranteed minimum $2,000 first place scholarship per division! 

   Big thanks to Peggy Cianciola, a huge supporter of junior bowling, and everyone at Deer Valley for their usual terrific job hosting our events.  Over $2,300 in scholarships was awarded.  Want in on the fun?  Come on out to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!