USBC Communications
Presley Gissendanner of Wesley Chapel, Fla., pressed hard and completed a perfect game to start her appearance at the 2024 United States Bowling Congress Women’s Championships on Monday at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev..
Her performance marked the fifth overall 300 bowled at the tournament this year, and the record for the most 300s at the USBC Women’s Championships is seven, which occurred last year in Las Vegas at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
Gissendanner was great from start to finish during her team event, finishing with a 771 series for her team – BABs of Bradenton, Florida. The group moved into the top 15 of Diamond Team with a 2,571 total.
She fired the 300 in Game 1 and followed it up in Game 2 with a score of 238. In Game 3, she rolled a solid 233.
Gissendanner was calm, cool and collected throughout the first game.
“I just needed to breathe and make a good shot in my final frame,” Gissendanner said. “Basically, I tried not to lose it a little bit and just wanted to take a step back and take my time.”
She was glad she bowled the perfect game, and it was an overall gutsy and strong performance.
“There’s a little bit of relief, because it has been a long time coming,” Gissendanner said. “I have been pretty close for a few years now and battled a lot of things medically with car accidents and things like that.”
Gissendanner was gleeful after the 300, where she was surrounded by her teammates and friends.
“I am excited to finally get it, and it was great to do it in front of the ladies that I love hanging out with,” Gissendanner said. “I like bowling with them and having them support me throughout.
“It’s a pretty neat experience, so I’m excited to celebrate with them tonight.”
Gissendanner loves competing at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno and has been bowling at the Women’s Championships for four years.
“Yeah, I love the Stadium,” Gissendanner said. “It’s very iconic and a great place to host the tournament at.”
On Tuesday, Gissendanner returned to the NBS and rolled sets of 720 in singles and 611 in doubles for a 2,102 all-events total, which places her sixth in the Diamond Division.
COLLEGIATE BOWLERS PERFECT AT OPEN
Andrew Kearney of Austin, Texas, may still be managing some schoolwork as he prepares for finals to conclude his current semester at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, but he was able to put together a perfect score for his first test at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The 19-year-old two-hander made his tournament debut this week at the South Point Bowling Plaza, and he was able to connect for the 16th 300 game of the 2024 event to start his doubles set.
He ended up starting doubles with 17 consecutive strikes before a nine count popped up in the sixth frame of Game 2 on his way to a 245 total, and he concluded the set with 194 for a 739 series. Kearney paired with Billy Smith Jr. of Lockhart, Texas, to finish with a 1,307 total in Regular Doubles.
Kearney has bowled for SCAD-Atlanta during the last two USBC Collegiate seasons.
After recording a pair of top 10 individual finishes during his freshman campaign, he closed his sophomore season with an impressive showing at the Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic in February, finishing 10th in a field of more than 530 student-athletes.
Kearney also collected a victory at the 2022 Bowling.com Youth Open Championships in U18 Scratch Singles competition.
Kearney added sets of 575 in team and 555 in singles to finish his first appearance with an all-events score of 1,869 in the Regular Division.
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.