Kim Carper captured her 5th title of the year at Paul Bunyan Bowl on Sunday.  In a field that featured 29 of the top youth bowlers in the state, Carper used her tough "stick to the game plan" style to emerge victorious.  The bowlers competed on a tough sport bowling lane condition which requires the bowlers to make constant adjustments and have a strong spare game to win.  This condition was the toughest of the 3 conditions used at the National Junior Gold Championships in Detroit last summer.

 

Five Scholarships were awarded for the competition to be placed in the athletes SMART accounts at the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) headquarters in Six Flags, Texas.  Along with Carper, the other recipients were Jeremy Haakonson of Sauk Rapids, Brady Stearns of Monticello, Justin Popp of Sauk Rapids, and Philip Prince of Crystal.  Haakonson was the high qualifier of the event with a 193 average over the six games.

 

There were 15 youth males and 4 youth females competing for three Junior Gold Championship entries.  The National Championships will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana this summer.  The male qualifiers were Haakonson and Prince.  The female qualifier was Molly Novak from Brunsville.  The Brainerd/Baxter Bowling Association and Paul Bunyan Bowl paid for the entries to support this tournament.

 

The Junior Gold Championships will be contested on 3 different sport bowling patterns over the course of week.  Carper qualified in a previous event and will be going for her 4th time.  She finished 45th out of 472 last year.  The top 4 males and females in this tournament are named to the Junior Team USA and compete in international competition representing the United States.