Entries are picking up, as they always do after the 4th July holiday, for the annual New Mexico Open, worth a record $ 76,000, that will be held for the 20th year at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho from August 16-18.

BOWLING UPDATE
From Tenpins & More

* Entries are picking up, as they always do after the 4th July holiday, for the annual New Mexico Open, worth a record $ 76,000, that will be held for the 20th year at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho from August 16-18.

Defending champion, Francois Lavoie of Wichita, Kansas is entry number one as he attempts to become only the second person to win the sought-after title in successive years.

Lavoie, who is also a two-time US Open winner, has also been runner-up twice here losing to Arizonan’s Jakob Butturff and Dylan Taylor in recent years before throwing a pressure-packed strike to beat Rio Rancho’s J D Nance last year.

Other top-level bowlers include Steven Novak from Louisville, Kentucky, national Hall-of-Famer, Andrew Cain, rookie PBA member, David McKay of Artesia and local hope, DeeRonn Booker who won the US Masters in Las Vegas over Easter.

First prize is a record $ 13,500 as an estimated field of more than 200 is expected for the prestige title.

* Summer Games were held last week at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho with teams, doubles, mixed doubles, singles and Masters events completed on Independence Day.

Sunday night league bowlers, Martin Neal, Marc Lucero, Peter Silva and Tom Thornhill won teams of four by 13 pins after lead-off Lucero fired a much-needed 255 final game to seal the deal.

Men’s doubles went to coach Perry Hampel and former student, Trevor Anderson by 16 pins with Hampel’s 224, 219, 212 (655) the deciding factor ahead of Dashaun Hereford and Greg Hoyt in second place.

Joe LaRosa and Robin Prioleau won the mixed event as the former New York City police-man closed with 251 and 257 to beat husband-and-wife Ron and Tammy Michel by 30 pins.

Prioleau then won singles with 259, 233 and 226, while John Lund, recovering from recent invasive knee surgery threw 244, 232, 231 for the men’s title.

In the youth division, Donald Gallegos and Justin Lucero won doubles while Lucia Griego included a 100 pins-over-average 230 opener to capture the singles prize.

Masters, run over six games in separate divisions for me, women and youth, went to Socorro’s Joseph Paterson, Melissa Danks and Sebastian Medina respectively.

Paterson closed strongly with 255, 205, 218 and 233 after a so-so start to beat Mikey Guevarra by 11 pins; Danks included a near-perfect 289 over Sue Robertson with a 42-pin margin and Medina, 13, won by 80 from Xavier Provencher with all six games above his current league average.

* Sunday’s King of The Hill was bowled on a brutal short-oil lane condition that produced only nine scores above 200 from the 56 games played.

Brian Bledsoe, who recently altered his approach to delivery to an unusual three steps, including the first in “reverse”, finished with five strikes from seven deliveries to run down early leader Jacob Gill 187-171 to notch his first win in the series.

Next up for scratch bowlers is a qualifier this Saturday July 13 to win paid entry to the New Mexico Open.