
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 4, 1993                   TAG: 9306040013
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PRO BOWLERS SET FOR EVENT IN ROANOKE

A pair of national tournament winners and a tour rookie of the year will be on hand for the first women's professional bowling tournament to be held in Roanoke.

Linda Kelly and Jackie Sellers, both of whom have won events on the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour, are the big names entered in the year's first LPBT Northeast Regional stop at Viking Lanes.

Spots remain in the pro-am competition today, with the tournament to be held Saturday and Sunday.

"Our tournaments are open to LPBT members and amateurs who meet the average [180] requirement," tournament director Charlie Allen said. "Membership is required for those bowlers who have won a regional tournament or cashed in two national events."

There are only 16 national LPBT events this year, so many members supplement their income by bowling in events in the tour's four regions. The winner will receive $1,250, and one of every three players will get prize money.

"We're looking at more than 30 [bowlers] for the tournament, which is a smaller field than usual," Allen said, "but we've just finished a five-week swing of national events."

The first of the pro-am shifts, at 7 p.m. today, will include men, women and juniors (under 21). The second shift, starting at 9:30 p.m., is for adults only.

Only amateurs not bowling in the tournament will be eligible for pro-am prize money. The entry fee for the pro-am is $25 for adults and $15 for youth bowlers. The format will be no-tap (nine counts as a strike).

Participants in the tournament will bowl 10 qualifying games Saturday, starting at 9:30 a.m. The top 10 qualifiers will return at 9 a.m. Sunday for 10 games.

Kelly, from Huber Heights, Ohio, and Sellers, from Dubois, Pa., each has won a gold medal in U.S. Olympic Festival competition. Kelly and Sellers have nine and five 300 games, respectively.

The Roanoke field also includes 1992 LPBT Rookie of the Year Marianne DiRupo and Florence Henderson, an LPBT regional winner from North Carolina. State "queens" champions entered include Karen Canter from Tennessee and Jean Zapulla from New York.

Admission for spectators at the tournament is $2 per session.

by CNB