By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
NORFOLK, Va. – John Janawicz had never bowled at AMF Norfolk Lanes prior to Monday’s practice session in the 2026 PBA50 Norfolk Classic.
After averaging nearly 260 during seven qualifying games Tuesday, he can’t wait to return to the lanes.
Janawicz started off with the front 10 strikes before leaving a 6-7 split for a 286 game. He followed that up with 254 and 277 for an 817 series.
“So far, I am kind of digging it here. I might try to join a summer league,” Janawicz said.
He hit one pair where the lanes played quite differently, resulting in a 200 game. Yet, he responded with 279, 276 and 247 for an opening score of 1,819.
“Fortunately, I got lined up right away. I was then able to chase it in a little bit,” Janawicz said. “I felt like scores were going to be pretty high, so I tried to be as proactive as I could be to be in front of it and not get too behind it. Most everything except for one game worked out pretty well.”
Janawicz is a big fan of the shorter oil patterns. He won the Ballard Championship earlier this year on a 36-foot pattern and he is matching up strongly on this week’s Holman 38-foot pattern.
He is happy to rebound from his 34th place finish in the Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship with a solid start at this tournament.
“I have had a pretty good look on short patterns in my career. I drilled two balls for today specifically and those were the two that I used primarily to shoot the scores,” said Janawicz, who also led qualifying during the Akron Classic in Fairlawn after returning from a hand injury.
“I didn’t throw urethane today because it didn’t look good for me.”
Mark Tarkington posted the second highest block of the day. He shot 235, 268, 218, 258, 258, 211 and 279 for 1,727.
Jon Rakoski is also a fan of this new center on the schedule. He started off with 277, 290 and 249 for 816. He then added 223, 239, 228 and 202 for 1,708, which puts him in third place. Behind Rakoski by just one pin is PBA50 Tour points leader Tom Hess with 1,707 and Jeffrey Campbell with 1,697.
Akron’s Don Hogue is sitting in 12th place (1,607) and Fairport Harbor’s Jerry Rich is 23rd (1,576).
The field of 76 players will bowl seven final games of qualifying starting at noon Wednesday to determine the top 26 for Thursday’s Advancers Round. Currently, Mitch Sacks is the cut line at 1,567 (+167). Hudson’s John Brockway is just 35 pins out of the cut.
You can watch the Norfolk Classic only on BowlTV.
Top 10 PBA50 Norfolk Classic standings:
- John Janawicz, 1,819 total pinfall (+419)
- Mark Tarkington, 1,727 (+327)
- Jon Rakoski, 1,708 (+308)
- Tom Hess, 1,707 (+307)
- Jeffrey Campbell, 1,697 (+297)
- Parker Bohn III, 1,664 (+264)
- Tom Adcock, 1,635 (+235)
- Pete Dohan Jr., 1,634 (+234)
- John Burkett, 1,620 (+220)
- Ronald Simms Jr., 1,611 (+211)
See complete scores here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8e2a29f1d7d7c024ce8f4