Bulletin Board

Goodbye

LEGENDARY BOWLER

Marion Ladewig, widely con- sidered the greatest female bowler of all time, passed away on April 16. She was 95. A native of Grand Rapids,

Mich., Ladewig, was voted Bowler of the Year nine times from 1950-63 by the Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA) before she retired from the sport in 1964. In 1973 she was voted the

Greatest Woman Bowler of All Time by the BWAA. She was named to the Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984. She was inducted into the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in 1991 and became one of 10 charter members of the Women’s Professional Bowling Hall of Fame in 1995. Ladewig was the only bowler named to the Sports Illustrated top 100

‘Grandma’

Queen of Bowling Marion Ladewig: 1914-2010

sports women of the century. “The thing that Marion

Ladewig did was to open the sport to women,” 1958 WIBC All-Events winner Patty McBride McCormick said in 2006. “In many cases, bowling was seen as a bar-room sport. You bowled in dark, smoky places and those were places young women just didn’t go to.” “She was the one who put

women’s bowling on the map,” two-time All-Star champion Dottie Fothergill said days after Ladewig’s death. “She was the best, and that took a lot of work and practice.” Ladewig was known by

many names during her career — “Queen Marion,” “Mechanical Marion” or, in a 1954 Chicago Tribune story 17 years into her career, merely “Grandma.”

900 Series Club Grows to 15 with Newest Member this Year

ANDREW MANK of Belleville, Ill. has joined an elite club, becoming the 15th bowler in history to roll a USBC-approved 900 series. “In the ninth frame of the third game I rang a 10 pin,” Mank said. “Then

a messenger came and took it out. Thank God.” Mank, 22, rolled 36 consecutive strikes March 18 in the Thursday

Men’s Handicap League at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville. Everyone in the bowling center gathered behind lanes one and two to watch his final frames. Mank, who started bowling at age 3, had several certified 300 games

and 800 series to his credit heading into this season. Mank aspires to bowl professionally some day and said he is thrilled his league voted to be a USBC certified league allowing the accomplishment to go in the record books. “I am glad it was certified,” Mank said. “If it wasn’t, who knows if it

could ever happen for me again.” There has never been a 900 on Sport Bowling lane conditions. Mank

said he will be looking for a PBA Experience USBC Sport league this summer in the hopes of being the first. .

14 USBOWLER SUMMER 2010

USBC APPROVED 900 SERIES

Jeremy Sonnenfeld,

Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 2, 1997

Tony Roventini,

Milwaukee, Nov. 9, 1998

Vince Wood,

Moreno Valley, Calif., Sept. 29, 1999

Robby Portalatin,

Jackson, Mich., Dec. 28, 2000

James Hylton,

Salem, Ore., May 2, 2001

Jeff Campbell II, New Castle, Pa.,

June 12, 2004

Darin Pomije,

New Prague, Minn., Dec. 9, 2004

Robert Mushtare,

Fort Drum, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2005 and Feb. 19, 2006

Lonnie Billiter Jr.,

Fairfield, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2006

Mark Wukoman,

Greenfield, Wis., April 22, 2006

P.J. Giesfeldt,

Milwaukee, Dec. 23, 2007

Rich Jerome Jr.,

Baltimore, Dec. 22, 2008

Chris Aker,

Winnemucca, Nev., Oct. 30, 2009

Andrew Teall,

Medford, N.J., Nov. 2, 2009

Andrew Mank,

Belleville, Ill. March 18, 2010

NEWS, NOTES AND HAPPENINGS FROM THE WORLD OF BOWLING