BOWLING: Mesquite bowler Sandy Sheppard wins 8th high-average title

With two weeks to go in a taxing journey of a long 2023-24 season, two top-notch bowlers were still locked in a tight race to determine who would win the high-average title which is most coveted award for serious bowlers.

And for the third time in the last four seasons in women’s bowling, Sandy Sheppard won the high-average scoring title at the Virgin River Bowling Center with a 191.70 average after mowing down 16,103 pins over 84 games in the Kings & Queens League.

For Sheppard, a towering figure in Mesquite bowling it was her eight scoring title and made amends for somewhat of a subpar last season when she finished second to Lori Jo Turner. She credits her improved game this season to taking a little extra time at the line to focus on her target.

Now let’s take a deeper dive looking at some of the stats compiled during the grind of a long season. For starters, she put an exclamation point on her outstanding season with a 706 series back in October, and also threw a season-high 236 game. And one of the stats that stands out is in her second games this season she averaged an impressive 197, while her average in both her first and third games was 188 , and 30 of her games were 200 or higher.

And another key factor in her winning a close race was a blistering scoring pace which began early in the season with a 655 series on September 19th, 2023 and ended 12 weeks later on November 28th with a 591 series, and over those 36 games averaged an impressive 199.36.

Sheppard will be spending this summer in Star Valley, Wyoming where she will be playing some golf with friends along with her husband, Dean, And years ago when living Colorado took a ride on the famous Silverton  Railroad, and both had a blast years ago riding a motorcycle over the “million dollar highway” in the Centennial State.

And Diane Marget was in the high-average race all season before finishing with next best average, a 191.03 compiled over 60 games by disposing of 11,462 pins in City High Rollers league competition, where she had a season-high 233 game and 666 series. During the course of the season she averaged 194 over her first games, 188 in her second, and 189 in her third games.

Marget is a tremendous bowling talent who’s eye-popping resume sports a career-high 786 series, ten 300 games, and is in the Minnesota Bowling Hall of Fame.

Bev Cormani throws the most explosive strike ball by a woman in Mesquite and ended the season with the third highest average, a 182 bowled in the Monday Scratch League where she KO’d 19,803 pins over 60 games and her high series in that league was a 603. And Kim Marshall’s 181 over 69 games in the C.H.R. League was the next highest average and included a season-high 265 game and 602 series.

Now let’s pivot back and take a quick gander at the aforementioned two close races. First, in the 2019-20 season when Sheppard won her fifth straight high-average title when with a 180.50 average as she edged out a 180.11 by MaryAnn Davis. And the other close race was in the 2021-22 season when her 188.02 average won out over Bev Cormani’s 187,55.

Next week will be the final column of the 2023-24 season and it will be about a local bowler, but not for his bowling exploits. Instead, it will be a short article on the absolutely stunning recovery this bowler made after what could have been a life altering accident, and the amazing role his pet dog played in that process.

Anita Sorensen 20.86; Pam Jacobson 18.81; Margie Mongolo 17.67; Chrissy Davis 16.54; Vickie Martinsen 17.5; Krista Kilpatrick 17.37; Mary Posey 16.30; Brenda Downing 16.02; Cheryl Carr 15.57; Gayle Parison 14.68; Carol Mulholland 14.22; Mary Sheets 14.03; Sharon Stoneman 13.7; Jane Barratt 13.67.

Jan Quinn 302; Reiko Schultz Schultz 305; Carol Saldivar 297; Cathy Hamilton 296; Gayle Parison 296; Carol Mulholland 295; Melanie Ray-Willis 295; Krista Kilpatrick 292; Vickie Martinsen 291; Jenette Powell 290; Brandy Sula 286; Chrissy Davis 285; Pat Harger 277; Donna Evans 277; Debbie Oldham 277; Dina Baratte 268; Connie Jenkins 268.

Gayle Parison; Laurie Trobough 809; Lexie Mattson 805; Ashlee Yokoyama 800; Cheryl Car 783; Judy Coinnelly 750; Martha Green 733.