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Sunday, January 05, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Tis the time to take a stroll down the memory lanes in the district to recapture some of the highlights during 2002.

And there were many.

Scores were up. So were the number of bowlers.

Here's a brief review of the news that helped shape the past year:

Lane 13 proved to be lucky for John Fichter, who had games of 279, 280 and 300 for an 859 series in the Bud Lite Classic League for the highest series at South Hills Bowl.

Fichter, 27, left a solid 9-pin in the ninth frame of the first game, a solid 10-pin in the second frame of the first game and then rolled his fifth sanctioned perfect game. His previous high series was 827 two years ago at South Hills Bowl.

"Can I top this? I didn't think I could top 827," said Fichter, who works for Alacoa in the finance department and averages 214. "You never want to say never."

Kristi Young, 28, a nurse at Woodhaven Care Center in Monroeville, became the first female in Western Pennsylvania to roll a sanctioned 800 series in 23 years when she had games of 277, 255 and 277 for an 809 in the Mixed Trio League at Miracle Lanes in Monroeville.

The previous 800 was Polly Schwarzel's 819, according to the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC).

Young, who averages 215, threw strikes in 30 of 36 frames. She had a little luck with Brooklyn strikes in the first and second games.

"I didn't even think about what I was doing while I was bowling," said Young, whose previous high three-game series was 760 two years ago at Miracle Lanes. "After I did it, I checked it out and realized I had done something pretty amazing."

The Three Rivers Open won't return to the Princess Lanes in Whitehall in the fall after being the host the past 11 years for the Professional Women's Bowling Association tour event.

John Jones, manager of the lanes, said he turned down an offer to be host of a tournament in Septemeber because the fees will be increased and the number of entries to the pro-am have decreased steadily the past several years. The pro-am produces the revenue that helps the host house take care of the expense of operating the tournament.

"It didn't make much business sense for us to do it again," Jones said. "It was an emotional decision from one standpoint, but after taking a look at the numbers, we decided to say we had a nice 11 years."

Top-seed Leanne Barrette won the final Three Rivers Open with a 225-166 victory against Marianne DiRupo in the championship match.

"I'm doing my best bowling after 16 years on the tour," said Barrette, 35, who lives in Pleasanton, Calif. "I'm smarter, I'm older and I look at things differently."

The bowling community said goodbye to two longtime supporters of youth bowling in the district.

Dan Glus, who wrote a weekly bowling column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review died of a heart attack at the age of 64 and Frank Palangio, proprietor of Swissvale Bowl-A-rama, died at the age of 79 after a long battle with Parkinson's.

Tournament trail

Mike Cohen defeated Bill Scheiwer Sr., 211-168, to win Week 12 of the Miller Lite Head-to-Head tournament at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. The next event is 8:15 p.m. next Sunday.

What's happening

The Pittsburgh Bowlers Tour is sponsoring a scratch singles tournament today at Lokay Lanes, with $1,000 for first place and a $40 entry fee. The mid-year handicap tournament will be next Sunday at Brunswick Playmor Lanes, with $2,000 for first place. Entry fee is $60.