BOWLING: Mesquite’s Frances Harper Captures Nevada Secretary of the Year Award

Frances Harper most likely racks up more miles on her automobile traveling for her secretarial duties than any other bowling league secretary in Nevada.

And that’s because when she leaves her home in Apple Valley, Utah for her Early Risers League in Mesquite which begins at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings and drives home again when the league’s over her odometer will show she made a 140-mile round-trip. And she’s been chalking up lotsa miles because she’s been that league’s secretary since the 2011-2012 season. Wow!

I know, you’re wondering if we can be absolutely certain that another league secretary or two in the Silver State do not travel a further distance than Harper? No.

But what we are absolutely certain of is the fact she was just named the Secretary of the Year by the Southern Nevada United States Bowling Congress Association which includes all leagues in Las Vegas, Pahrump, Boulder City, Ely and Mesquite.

Marty Wilks has been a bowler in her league since day one and said, “Frances does an exceptional job as secretary, and if you ever have any questions or concerns she’s always happy to address them and always does so in a friendly and positive manner, and if you sign up for them, she will even email bowlers later that evening the morning’s scores.”

Away from bowling, she’s an avid fan of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and even has an autograph of their Hall of Fame catcher, Johnny Bench.

Also of interest is the fact that both her mom and dad attended Hollywood High School and one of their classmates was the actor, Mickey Rooney.

Now let’s switch gears here to league bowling and we find out the Virgin River Bowling Center is still reeling from a pasting delivered by John Martin when he began his Monday Scratch League by firing 11 rockets to the 1-3 pocket good for 11 straight strikes before leaving a recalcitrant 7 pin leave on his final shot derailing a determined bid for a 300 only to fall a stick short with a 299. And after tacking on games of 237 and 215 he finished the night with a gargantuan 751 series.

And no surprise here, but Mike Rogers continued a blistering scoring pace with a stellar 727 series on games of 247, 246 and 234, and propelled by 24 strikes, Jeremy Telford delivered his best effort this season with a standout 725 set on games of 267, 244 and 214, while Milan Carr’s 717 and 268 game raised his Wednesday Men’s League (WML) average to 210, and Dennis Craft, a former marathon runner tossed 20 strikes and was a perfect 12-of-12 on spare shots en route to a clean 697 series on games of 258, 228, and 211 raising his Kings & Queens League (KQL) average to 218.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Webb, fueled by 23 strikes and marks on 8-of-9 non-split spare attempts tossed games of 245, 241 and 207 for a career-high 693 series, and with his lethal strike ball the next milestone achievement in his bowling journey will be a 700 series. It’s just a question of when, not if!

In other league play, Orlyn Meyer (684-235) pummeled the pins for a 684 which raised his Early Risers League (ERL) average two pins to 198, and for the umpteenth time, Darren Simonds (683-244) showed he can light up the scoring monitors when he brings his strike ball to the party, and he’s the only bowler I’ve ever met who’s actually chatted with Jay Leno at a couple classic car shows.

Alfred Oliveira V raised his KQL average to 206 after chalking up a 681 with only one open and it’s a layup his average will be going even higher, and in the same league, his dad, Alfred Oliveira IV, propelled by a 253 with a six-bagger rolled a heckuva nice 677 set and raised his KQL average to 192.

And Mike Foote continued a recent scoring splurge  with a 667 which elevated his WML average to 203, and Roman Perez is turning his second year of bowling into a breakout season as he thumped the lanes with a season-high 652 and raised his WML average to an impressive 189.

And Jerry Holloway’s fortitude and tenacity helped him overcome five splits by throwing 22 strikes paving the way for a 651, and David “Mr. 300” Johnson popped a 650, and if your bucket list includes visiting Machu Picchu, you will definitely wanna chat with both him and his brother Dan for some fascinating stories about their visit to this iconic 15th century Inca citadel located in Peru.

Ernie Kala’s 642 bumped his average two pins higher to 200, Angel Hernandez who launched his bowling career in the 2021-22 season punched out a 640 that raised his KQL average to an impressive 207, and Ken Schloman captured ink for a season-high 618 and raised his ERL average to 180, and as one of a small group of top-notch students in his Missouri high school who had the high honor of spending an hour visiting with the former President Harry Truman at his retirement home in Missouri.

And Robin Drury delivered one of his best outings this season with a 617 set with a 246 game,  Apple Valley, Utah’s Johnny Harper put an exclamation point on an outstanding month of bowling with a season-high 614 which blew away his previous best this season of 561 which in turn raised his ERL average to 182, while Jam “Kooz” Kusy’s 613 and 243 are his two best scores since his return to bowling after not competing for a good two years following hip surgery.

Meanwhile, Mike Dunlop (606-211) is a heckuva good golfer who’s improved his average the most of any bowler in the WML by going from a 172 average after 21 games to his current 186.78, while Mike  Rosenlof who hails from Beaver, Utah booked his first 600 this season with a 605, and Dick Lonick flirted with a 600 before finishing with a season-high 590 on games of 223, 202, 165 and as a once formidable jock and hockey player he continues following the sport as an avid fan of the NHL’s Colorado, Avalanche.

In single game play, James Hartley (687) began a 280 gem going strike/spare and then ran the table with 10 more strikes, Gil Niimi began with the front 4 for strikes and ended a clean 248 with four strikes, Brian Collins (621) logged a 244,while Dave Houghton (598) seemingly can’t go a week without throwing at least one deuce game like his 243 last week, and Dave Newman tallied a 242.

And Frank Addamo piloted his way to a 237, Ken Meacham (609) registered a clean 231, while Tim McNees cruised to a 224 and he’s a former race car driver who once even raced in South Africa, and Allen Cope merits ink for a 218.

And Gage Hughes (574) is a young two-handed bowler in his freshman season of league play and is already showing impressive improvement in his game as illustrated by a 217 game with a six-bagger and his sole open frame came after leaving a 5-7-10 split.

And Jedd Fisher cranked out a 214 with six strikes, and Bob Robbins who hails from Wrangell, Alaska spanked the lanes with a clean 212, and Ken Meacham who works at Wolf Creek Golf Course also rolled a clean 212.

And if we were giving out a gold medal for who picked up the most difficult split this week it would go to Russ Marshall for picking up the infamous “Greek Church” in a 205 game. Marshall also has some fabulous stories to tell from his days working at the Gold Coast Bowling Center in Sin City where he also met some interesting celebrities like Steven Tyler, the lead singer of the rock band, Aerosmith who also autographed a pair of bowling shoes for Marshall.

Stan “DJ Cheii” Benally who also does some DJ gigs tossed a 202, and Fred Emmons delivered a 201 and after retiring from a career in the U.S. Navy, he worked at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut where he’d periodically  run into the TV stars like Mike Ditka and Hannah Storm.

Finally, Jim Lytle is a heckuva good bowler who averaged 211 in the WML last season and did something rarely seen in bowling these days when he had all spares in a 195 game. And the only other time I’ve seen a bowler do this since I’ve been doing this column happened in March 2023 when Cher Erhart did the same in a 177 game.

And mentioning Erhart is a great segue into women’s bowling where the scores reflect the fact that Diane Marget led the scoring charge with a 592 including a 218 game, Bev Cormani ‘s 571 came on super consistent games of 191, 191, 189, and the way Cathy Gardner delivers a bowling ball seems like her game has the potential for some upside and is reflected in her 565 on games of 195, 187 and 183.

Meanwhile, Autumn Telford (556-205) delivered another week of solid scores, and Ashley Yokoyama (549-191) has definitely seen her scores gain altitude in recent weeks.

And in Ladies Trio League action, Suzie Fehseke set the scoring pace with a 530 set on games of 184, 174 and 172, and Kim Finnegan grabs some ink for a 525 effort. She’s a pretty darn good bowler, but still, you’d think her husband, Bill, could do a better job of matching her scores, with his latest effort an anemic 432, and that’s not a typo. So, what we’ll likely start doing in this column is to use his handicap scores to give him a better shot at making it seem as if he’s either matching, or getting higher scores than his wife’s scratch scores. Ouch! Man, I should probably remove this. Ahh, on second thought I’ll leave it in because I’m sure the editor will no doubt catch this zinger and delete it before it goes online tomorrow.

In other action, Marla Daniel merits ink for a 524 with a nice 196 game, Molly Gomes logged a 520 with another deuce game, a 200 on the nose, and Sheila Green’s 518 should be the down payment on seeing scores go higher on a weekly basis before the clock runs out on the 2024-2025 season.

In single game play, Cheryl Rogers (536) with a 226 tossed the highest game of the week, a 226, Sandy Sheppard (591) spanked the lanes with a 217,  Kim Marshall (520) tallied a 210, while Sheila Steadman gets her first ink here for a 205, and Lee Ann Harmes (575)  peppered the lanes with a 203.

Alfred Oliveira V 595-215, Kelly Williamson 578-206, Mike Gentry 203.

Darren Simonds 683-244; Bob Marget 672-246; Jeff Harmed 671-247; Jerod Bundy 671-246; John Hollaway 667-279; Austin Finster 657-248; Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez 657-249; Doug Love 650-235; Alan Jacobson 640-248; Dylan Kesl 625-267; Mike Yoder 617-220; Dean Baum 614-233; Paul Sullivan 606-222; Dave Pershing 600-225; Al Gans 595-211; Steve Serrano 592-223; Rob Cormani 240; Harold Hendrick 237; Ricky Trujillo 233; Sal Diaz 224; Dave Castro 223; Josue Mendoza 222; David Walker 220; Logan Hendrick 220; Max Baarz 215; John Gerger 214; Dale Knight 213; Bob Robbins 212; Britt Kesl211; randy Brown 211; Bruce Hooley 207; Dean Sheppard 205; Harry Uncles 203; George Huston 203; Shaun Edwards 203; Sampson Miller 202; Steve Helbig 202; Jack Northover 201; Jeff Branche 201; Kelly Williamson 201; Nick Medina 200; Paul Bunyon 200; Robert Melendez 200.

Debbie Hansen 519; Pam Jacobson 513-197; Mary Posey 512; Georgia “GG” Humphrey 510-192; Gayle Parison 505; MaryAnn Davis 504; Cheryl Fisher 190.