HAMMER NEWS

JOHNSON WINS WOMEN’S SINGLES GOLD AT PAN AMERICAN GAMES

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., won the women’s singles Thursday, giving Team USA three gold medals in four events in bowling at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Johnson defeated Jennifer Park of Canada, 2-0, to earn the gold at Bolerama Tapatio. Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, took the silver medal in men’s singles, falling in the championship match 2-0 to Santiago Mejia of Colombia.

“Anytime you win three out of four gold medals you can’t say anything but that it was successful,” Team USA head coach Rod Ross said. “We had a shot at getting all four, but Colombia bowled extremely well and deserved to earn the gold.”

Johnson had little trouble in the gold-medal match, taking down Park 232-196 and 235-190 in the best-of-three format.

“It was a tough battle but it feels great to come out on top,” Johnson said. “There were some great players in this field. Physically I felt really good, and I used a few tricks in my bag to do what I had to do to strike.”

Barnes, meanwhile, was never able to get on track in his match against Mejia, losing 189-171 and 205-193.

“Of course it is disappointing not to win the gold, but I just didn’t perform very well,” Barnes said. “The left lane was tricky, and I wasn’t able to put any pressure on him. He bowled very well and kept all the pressure on me.”

In the semifinals, Barnes advanced with a 2-1 victory over Manuel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, while Mejia defeated Marcelo Suartz of Brazil, 2-1. Johnson knocked off Karen Marcano of Venezuela, 2-0, and Park defeated Canadian teammate Caroline Lagrange, 2-1. The semifinal losers shared the bronze medal.

Team USA’s Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., lost in the quarterfinals to Mejia, 711-589 in the three games, total pinfall match. Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., fell in the opening round to Brazil’s Stephanie Martins, 630-587.

The United States started the Pan American Games by sweeping the men’s and women’s doubles gold medals. Since bowling became a medal sport in 1991, Team USA has earned 20 of a possible 28 gold medals in bowling at the Pan American Games.

Held every four years, the Pan American Games are the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. This year, nearly 6,000 athletes from the American Zone are competing in 36 sports.

Visit BOWL.com for stories and results from the Pan American Games.

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2011 PAN AMERICAN GAMES
(At Bolerama Tapatio, Guadalajara, Mexico) Thursday’s Results

MEN’S SINGLES

FIRST ROUND
(Three games total pins matches; losers eliminated)

(1) Chris Barnes, United States def. (16) Art Oliver Jr., Canada, 655-587
(2) Bill O’Neill, United States def. (15) Rolando Sebelen, Dominican Republic, 718-561
(14) Mario Valverde, Costa Rica def. (3) Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 645-614
(4) Andres Gomez, Colombia def. (13) Andro Simounet, Puerto Rico, 612-587
(12) Marcelo Suartz, Brazil def. (5) Alejandro Cruz, Mexico, 718-689
(6) Manuel Fernandez, Dominican Republic def. (11) Ernesto Franco, Mexico, 678-582
(7) Francisco Colon, Puerto Rico def. (10) Alejandro Reyna, Costa Rica, 624-619
(9) Santiago Mejia, Colombia def. (8) Jose Lander, Venezuela, 570-560

QUARTERFINALS
(Three games total pins matches; losers eliminated)

Barnes def. Valverde, 760-535
Suartz def. Gomez, 682-668
Mejia def. O’Neill, 711-589
Fernandez def. Colon, 665-625

SEMIFINALS
(Best-of-three matches; losers share bronze medal)

Barnes def. Fernandez, 2-1 (227-235, 191-144, 223-177) Mejia def. Suartz, 2-1 (225-160, 223-232, 217-193)

FINAL
(Best-of-three match; winner earns gold medal, loser takes silver medal)

Mejia def. Barnes, 2-0 (189-171, 205-193)

WOMEN’S SINGLES

FIRST ROUND
(Three games total pins matches; losers eliminated)

(16) Stephanie Martins, Brazil def. (1) Kelly Kulick, United States, 630-587
(2) Liz Johnson, United States def. (15) Yoselin Leon, Puerto Rico, 676-626
(3) Caroline Lagrange, Canada def. (14) Anggie Ramirez, Colombia, 619-608
(13) Patricia de Faria, Venezuela def. (4) Sofia Rodriguez, Guatemala, 620-586
(5) Marizete Scheer, Brazil def. (12) Andrea Rojas, Chile, 548-542
(6) Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic def. (11) Aseret Zetter, Mexico, 578-539
(7) Jennifer Park, Canada def. (10) Thashaina Seraus, Aruba, 621-591
(8) Karen Marcano, Venezuela def. (9) Kamilah Dammers, Aruba, 645-613

QUARTERFINALS
(Three games total pins matches; losers eliminated)

Lagrange def. Martins, 573-535
Johnson def. Scheer, 648-515
Marcano def. Guerra, 652-595
Park def. De Faria, 668-535

SEMIFINALS
(Best-of-three matches; losers share bronze medal)

Park def. Lagrange, 2-1 (180-188, 187-174, 210-184) Johnson def. Marcano, 2-0 (249-206, 254-203)

FINAL
(Best-of-three match; winner earns gold medal, loser takes silver medal)

Johnson def. Park, 2-0 (232-196, 235-190)

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• 10/28/2011
  JOHNSON WINS WOMEN’S SINGLES GOLD AT PAN AMERICAN GAMES

  GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., won the women’s singles Thursday, giving