Rio Rancho: The New Mexico Open bowling tournament will offer record prize-money of more than $ 76,000 when it’s 20th edition hits the lanes at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho, August 16-18. Defending champion and twice runner-up, Francois Lavoie of Wichita, Kansas will be trying to join Albuquerque’s John Young as the tournament’s only two-time winner. (Young won the first two events in 2004 and 2005). First prize is also a record $ 13,500, based on 192 entries, with prize-money paid one in every four entries. Last year the field size was 211 in the 24-lane Center. In last year’s championship match, local bowler, J D Nance, who had finished runner-up to PBA Rookie-of-the-Year, Cortez Schenck the prior year, had a chance to send top-seeded Lavoie to overtime, but lost after the French-Canadian threw a clutch tenth frame double for the nod 202-194. Former PBA national tour champion, Mike Miller is preparing another testing lane pattern, evidenced in the past nineteen years with winning averages typically in the 205-215 range. Lavoie carded 210.4 in 2023. Hope for a New Mexico victory received a boost after DeeRonn Booker, the pro-shop operator at Starlight Bowling, Bar & Grill. won the USBC Masters in Las Vegas earlier this year. And of course, Nance will be back to go “one better” than the past two years. Last year’s third and fourth place finishers, Steven Novak of Louisville, Kentucky and Fero Williams from Oklahoma are also.amongst early sign-ups. High game prizes on each pair in every squad give an indication of expected output. Squad one the average winning score was 241.8, squad two 247.4, three 257.9, four 243.3 and five 254.3. Following eight-game qualifying rounds the top 32 will return Sunday for double-elimination bracket play, until only four remain – the unbeaten leader and three from the loser’s bracket – to contest the championship round. Emil Williams BowlStreamTV.com will cover three pairs of lanes from start to finish, along with score updates and predictions, while area radio station, KDSK 92.9 will provide a two-hour live remote on opening day. Tournament entry forms are available on-line at www.new-tenpinsmore.vaultsites.com under the “league” tab. e n d Please contact Steve Mackie by email at tenpins@q.com or call 505-891-4462 after 4pm MT for more details.

BOWLING UPDATEFrom Tenpins & More * Numerous local bowlers captured city titles on their “home lanes” at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho in last week’s Senior City tournament there. Carl Chavez, Gary Hadley, Joe Merrick and Dana Miller-Mackie combined for a 2,845 pin-fall to win division 1 teams by 109 pins from a Bernalillo quartet. Division 2 teams went to Maria Lujan, Chuck Jones, Sandra and Ken Huff with 2,709, 39 pins higher than an Albuquerque foursome. Kimble Platz and Pat Tuitele won division 2 doubles with 1,399, 25 pins in front of second, while Greg Allen, who bowls three times a week, won singles class A in the 70-74 age category with 732, by a 40-pin margin. Other Rio Rancho bowlers to win their respective age singles included Linda Herrera 733, Carl Chavez 728, Becky Fisher 734 and Eddie Dowd 724. Platz, Fisher and Dowd also won in all-events standings, amongst 554 entries in the tournament. * Bowlers ranging in age from twelve to 25 years of age are busy fund-raising over $ 80,000 in the Australian city of Brisbane to visit New Mexico this September. While here, they’ll be sight-seeing around the state and metro area before taking to the lanes at Tenpins & More for an international “friendly” against local teams, many of whom will try to win representation through a series of tournaments starting next month through August. The first two qualifiers are scheduled Saturday May 11 then Sunday May 19, with both commencing at 1pm. Age-eligible visitors will also bowl in the Youth New Mexico Open at Tenpins & More on September 21-22. The concept for another “down-under” visit came from Joshua Kemp who was a member of the Australian squad that bowled here in 2012. * Nine of the nineteen leagues on this summer’s roster at Tenpins & More are for four and three-person teams. Every day of the week has at least one offering, set to suit every bowler’s work and life commitments. As well, summer teams can be all-female, all-male or any mix. Doubles are always popular too with a youth/adult league Thursdays at 6.30pm starting May 16. Pre-league sign-ups are encouraged as often unknown walk-in teams find the available lanes are already full. * Calendar:April 26-28: Native American TournamentMay 2-5: Spring 9-pin No-Tap finalsMay 11: Australian challenge qualifier at 1pmMay 12: Moms bowl free ALL DAY! Happy Mother’s Day!

—-BOWLING UPDATE From Tenpins & More * Lot of bowling action in the past weeks at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho, including a new “King of the Hill” crowned when Eric Vanderlip survived qualifying rounds then walked through four more rounds untouched. The left-hander made the cut from 35 to 18 players in 15th place with 817/4 on the 50 foot long sport lane pattern, then added 279, 258, 223 and a closing 202-193 win over Sam Pinge to notch his first win in the series from six attempts. * This weekend, April 13 & 14, is the second and final chance for men and women senior bowlers to try and win a city title in the tournament being held at Tenpins & More. More than three hundred bowlers are signed for the conclusion in teams of four, doubles and singles events. * DeeRonn Booker, who won the United States Masters major championship last week in Las Vegas, is in Detroit, Michigan for the “World Series of Bowling” the next two weeks. Booker, who manages the Pro-Shop inside Starlight Bowling, Bar & Grill, averaged a consistent 223.4 over 19 games, the highlight being his 279/300 back-to-back to beat reigning PBA Player-of-the-Year, E.J. Tackett in an earlier round. * Carson Opela came within pins of breaking the eight-game house record in last Sunday’s Doubles Marathon at Tenpins & More. The former Rio Rancho Rams anchor-man put together a rare series with 300, 220, 243, 300, 290, 244, 223 and 243 for 2,063 total pinfall, at an average of 257.8 pins per game. His output enabled him and partner, Jon Arevalo to win with an 8-0 match-play result, assisted by Arevalo’s stout 213 average. Tom Thornhill and Peter Silva won a roll-off 382-357 over Socorro’s Will Hall and Joseph Paterson for second and third place ahead of five other duos who cashed in the full-house tournament. Thhornhill’s 228.1 average was a personal best, while Robin Prioleau 227.8, Charles Vigil 220.1 and Billy Grant 219.7 weren’t far off Opela’s blistering pace.