Mindy Pancoast

Collegiate bowler 'always learning'

Mindy Pancoast, 20, of Newport News, Va., uses national events such as the Junior Gold Championships to keep her game sharp for the collegiate bowling season. (She had been at the University of Nebraska for two years, but now bowls for Virginia Tech.)

"It's always a learning experience," Mindy said. "You take chances, make a move and see what works."

She had a 233 tournament high game and finished the 18 qualifying games with 3,237, which was 101 pins under the amount needed to advance to semifinals.

"Everyone has a bad day sometimes," Mindy said. "It's always challenging. You can't dwell on the last frame. You have to keep your head up and know that you can do it."

Greg Geering has his approach videotaped for analysis by USBC Silver certified coach Cary Pon.

Coaching help leads to 300

Robert Klann, 17, of Canyon Lake, Texas, was a first-time participant at the USBC Junior Gold Championships and took advantage of videotape analysis offered by USBC certified coaches early during the competition. Robert finished the qualifying rounds in the top half of the field and had a tournament high game of 234. During the Ebonite Gold Survivors Tournament (an event conducted for Junior Gold Championships participants who didn't advance to the championships' semifinals), Robert rolled his first certified 300 game.

Michelle Snyder, 20, of Alamogordo, N.M., also a first-timer at the championships, finished in the top two-thirds among the 435 female competitors after seeking video analysis of her approach. She had a 210 tournament high game.

Second-year competitor Greg Geering, 16, of Phoenix also saw his scores improve after video analysis by USBC coaches. He topped his 2005 performance, finishing 335 pins higher during the 2006 qualifying rounds. That score moved him up from 756th place in 2005 to 298th place in 2006 … pretty good, considering there were 991 boys in the 2006 field.

Frank Wilkinson

New Yorker 'having a ball'

"It's the experience that's the best," insisted 19-year-old Frank Wilkinson, who competes in and conducts Gold events in the Staten Island, N.Y., area. "Getting out, having fun, and seeing some of the same people year after year at nationals is just awesome."

Active in USBC's Youth Leaders program at the local, state and national levels, Frank has lots of what he terms "far-flung friends."

"We compare notes and find out what has worked in one area that might work well in ours," Frank said.

After finishing in the top half and rolling his 214 tournament high game, Frank acknowledged that some people are more driven by competition. "Some kids here are so focused that they don't talk to anybody," he said. "It's fun watching the top bowlers in the semifinals and trying to guess who is going to make the top 16 for the finals."

Greg and Jennifer Elicker

Siblings share excitement and success

Greg Elicker, 18, and his sister Jennifer, 17, of York, Pa., were among several sibling pairs who advanced from the qualifying rounds of the USBC Junior Gold Championships. Jennifer finished 31st and had her 230 tournament high game during the semifinals. Greg was in 17th place until he finished the semifinals by shooting a perfect game. That propelled him into the finals, where he finished 13th and earned a $700 scholarship. Both Greg and Jennifer prepared for the championships by bowling in Pennsylvania Junior Bowlers Tour events.

Kyle Bischoff

Other successful sibling competitors included Kyle and Kara Bischoff of St. Cloud, Minn.; Jessica and Jeremy Fleck of Dayton, Ohio; and Josie and Jessica Earnest of Vandalia, Ill. 

Kara, 20, finished 44th and rolled her 236 tournament high game during the qualifying rounds. Her brother, Kyle, 18, led the boys' field after 18 games of qualifying, where he scored his 269 tournament high game, and finished eighth in the match play finals, earning a $900 scholarship. At the conclusion of the championships, Kyle was chosen as a Junior Team USA 2007 member by the National Selection Committee.

In the Fleck family, both Jessica, 21, and Jeremy, 19, scored their high tournament games, 255 and 279, respectively, during the qualifying rounds. Jessica finished 63rd among the girls while Jeremy finished 79th among the boys.

Josie Earnest

Erik Galganski

Florida natives enjoyed home field advantage

When 17-year-old Erik Galganski of North Palm Beach, Fla., discovered last year that the 2006 USBC Junior Gold Championships were to be held just down the coast in the greater Fort Lauderdale area, he set out on a two-part mission. He not only wanted to earn his entry into the event, but also conduct a qualifier tournament for Junior Gold members in his state.

As president of the Florida State USBC Youth Leaders, Erik set out to provide a multi-site tournament experience in a format similar to the championships' three qualifying rounds. He and his fellow Youth Leaders launched the Junior Gold Prep Tournament, which attracted 68 participants from all over the state, each vying to earn an entry into the championships.

Erik, who earned his entry through a different qualifier event, completed his mission when he finished the championships' qualifying rounds with an 18-game total of 3,342. Within days he was already planning a second annual Junior Gold Prep Tournament to send winners to the 2007 USBC Junior Gold Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

"We had such a tremendous amount of positive feedback from our first event that we can't stop now," Erik said.

Matt Foley

Matt Foley, 17, of Boca Raton, Fla., participated in both the Junior Gold Prep Tournament and the 2006 championships.

"I'm used to the atmosphere here," he said, "but it's still a learning experience. I've been consistent here at the championships, shooting 1,112, 1,112 and 1,113 during the three days of qualifying. I was marking at about 70 percent, so to get ready for next summer I'll be working on my spare shooting."

Dan Curtis

Pre-teen event veteran looks ahead

Dan Curtis, 12, a two-time Junior Gold competitor from Baltimore, had a 230 tournament high game and scored 3,129 over the 18 qualifying games this year. He tries to keep things in perspective. "I'm still learning as I'm going along. If things keep going the way they are, I'll be at next year's event in Buffalo."