By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — Jack Lenhart has needed to make changes in his bowling game over the years.
They are things that come with age for the 66-year-old Uniontown right-hander.
“My rev rates are still a little high, but my ball speed is too slow as I got older,” Lenhart said. “It forces me to play more inside and get the angles right.”
Lenhart, the former chief operating officer for OGS Industries who now is transitioning toward retirement, also has been dealing with back problems.
“My back’s a mess. I’m going to need surgery one of these days, but I keep putting it off,” Lenhart said. “I can bowl and play golf with it, but it’s always sore and I have to adjust some things.
“I can’t get down and use my legs as well as I used to. I have to make sure I stay down without getting down, if that makes sense.”
Recently in the Pizza Oven Classic league at Park Centre Lanes, it all came together one more time for Lenhart.
Bowling in a seven-man rotation on his Wednesday night team after bowling the day shift in the Summit County Senior All-Star Traveling league, Lenhart started with 300 and followed with 277 and 257 for an 834 series. He now owns “around 30” 800 series to go along with “around 50” 300 games as he has bowled around the country.
It was the second time in two seasons that he has shot 800 at Park Centre, with the first coming last season in the traveling league.
“I just haven’t bowled much the last few years. Last year, it was just three games a week,” said Lenhart, who also combined with Marissa Perrine to capture a College Bowl Tournaments 50-50 doubles event at Eastbury Bowling Center last season.
“I don’t touch a ball all summer and I always start out slow. I haven’t been throwing the ball real well so throwing like that at any age means something … just to have a good swing and get through the ball again.”
The last two 800s also carried special meaning for Lenhart in another aspect. He became one of only four players to have 800 series in six decades, with his first coming in 1975. He joins William Starnes, Sam Carter and Hugh Miller as bowlers accomplishing the task, according the the United States Bowling Congress record book.
And he did it with a ball he had borrowed a year ago from friend Bobby Moyers.
“The first time I used it was in traveling league after I started with 200, 200, Bobby asked me to try it and I shot 300 the last game,” Lenhart said of the Track Legion. “He hasn’t gotten it back since. I use it everywhere depending on the lane condition.”
That night, Lenhart played a deep inside line.
“I was looking 20 to 22 through the heads and trying to get it out to about 10 looking out to about 40 feet,” Lenhart said.
But after rolling 300 in Game 1, Lenhart had to adjust in Game 2 — but without changing equipment.
“I thought I had a good look, but the first shot in Game 2 jumped on me and the next shot jumped on me,” Lenhart said. “So I moved four (boards) left with my feet and kept my eyes on the same spot on the lanes.”
He then ran strikes from the third through the 10th frame to set up his run at 800.
But after starting Game 3 with a double, he left back-to-back solid 8-pins followed by a 10-pin, covering the spares.
He made no changes.
“I didn’t change a thing,” Lenhart said. “I just tried to keep my speed up and project the ball down the lane. Then, I started striking again.”
He struck out for the final count.
“This is still fun, and that’s why I do it,” Lenhart said. “It’s just fun to be out here competing.”
And competing on a high level.