From wire reports
HOUSTON – Qualifying at the 2026 Professional Bowlers Association/Professional Women’s Bowling Association Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event in Houston concluded Saturday evening at Copperfed Bowl, and the top 40 teams advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
McCarthy and Anderson,, who led the field following the second seven-game qualifying round Friday, stand first after a combined seven-game total of 3,127. Danielle Urbano and Anthony Simonsen followed in second with 3,103, while Kent’s Rocio Restrepo-Hostetler and Deo Benard placed third with 3,100. Josie Barnes and Stu Williams finished fourth with 3,083, and Kayla Sommer and Dawson Peterson rounded out the top five with 3,073.
The top 40 teams will bowl a four-game semifinal round beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday, with the top 12 teams after that round advancing to match play.
The area tandem of Tallmadge’s Kirsten Moore, a former Youngstown State University player, and Cuyahoga Falls’ Bryce Oliver finished 32nd overall to advance with 2,009.
Defending champion Chris Via of Blacklick, who is bowling this year with Dayton’s Shannon Pluhowsky after his 2025 partner, Bryanna Cote, was unable to participate due to glaucoma surgery, also advanced in 16th place (3,003).
Other Ohio linked teams still in the mix are Urbana’s Graham Fach and Breanna Clemmer (13th, 3,024) and Parma’s Patrick Dombrowski and Kara Mangiola (28th, 2,922).
The cut spot was at 2,892 for seven games, with Crystal Elliott and Francois Lavoie earning that spot by just four pins over Stephanie Sheridan and Shea Bittenbender (2,888) and 10 over Kristin Hiker and Anthony Lavery-Spahr (2,882).
Brandon Runk shot the lone 300 of Saturday’s two qualifying squads in Game 3. He also advanced with wife Alexis Runk (24th, 2,951)
Of interest is the pairing of 2022 champions Diandra Asbaty and two-time defending PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett.
According to pba.com, Tackett entered the tournament with an average of 229.79 for his 438 games this season, and shot 1,580 for his seven games, setting the stage for himself to break the PBA Tour’s single-season average record Sunday.
Tackett will need to shoot at least 771 for his four games in the semifinal round to break Jason Belmonte’s 2017 record of 229.39.
If Tackett and Asbaty advance to the 12-game finals, Tackett will need a total of 3,524 pins for his 16 games on Sunday, a pace of 220.25.
High seven-game series during Saturday’s two qualifying rounds belonged to Kayla Sommer with 1,538 for the women while Simonsen led the men with 1,677, just one pin ahead of Marshall Kent (1,676). All bowled on C squad.
“Definitely enjoyed myself competing in my first Luci! Saw the lanes great today and now we wait to see if it’s enough for Sunday,” Oliver posted on Facebook following his A squad effort.
Moore added also on Facebook, “Struggled with ball reaction all morning but had so much fun competing in my first SABC with Bryce Oliver.”
LEADING FINAL SQUAD
/the duo of Keira Magsam of Gretna, Neb., and PBA50 points leader and PBA Hall of Famer Tom Hess of Granger, Iowa, led the fourth and final qualifying squad Saturday.
Although the pair entered the event as first-time teammates, they quickly found chemistry during Saturday’s qualifying round to secure their place in the semifinals with a combined seven-game total of 3,045, good for ninth place.
For Hess, competing in the event has always been about supporting the tournament’s mission, making the search for a new partner an easy decision after his usual teammate was unable to attend.
“The reason I come here is for the cause, Striking Against Breast Cancer,” Hess said. “I love Donna (Connors). I’ve bowled here before, but my normal partner couldn’t come this year, and my daughter doesn’t bowl anymore. I went to the Team USA page looking for somebody who didn’t have a partner. Keira’s name popped up, and I’ve known her since she was about 9 or 10 years old. I reached out to her dad, Rick, and asked if she’d want to bowl. She said yes, and that’s how we’re here.”
Magsam, who recently completed a successful collegiate season at Jacksonville State, said her background in team competition helped make the transition to bowling alongside Hess seamless.
“With my team-based experience, I was able to keep that going from being a part of Jacksonville State,” Magsam said. “And just knowing Tom for as long as I have, I feel like we meshed well and were able to stay connected throughout the day.”
Hess agreed, crediting communication and teamwork for the duo’s strong performance.
“For the first time bowling together, I thought we did very well as a team, holding each other up when we needed it,” Hess said. “We didn’t want to put any kind of pressure on each other. The only pressure we put on ourselves was wanting to bowl well for each other. We worked across the house, communicated well and were able to get it done today.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s semifinal round, both bowlers know the lane conditions will present a new challenge despite their success during qualifying.
“They’re never going to play the same from day to day,” Hess said. “We both had a really good look on the fresh for the first four games. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and seeing if we can make a run.”
Magsam echoed that confidence while recognizing the need to adjust.
“You can’t assume they’re going to play the same, but I feel like we have a pretty good overall idea of the pattern,” Magsam said. “Hopefully we can start off the same way we did today.”
Hess also credited Magsam’s collegiate team experience for helping keep the partnership focused throughout qualifying.
“She came up to me early and said a lot of her bowling lately has been team-based and that she likes to keep things positive,” Hess said. “I can be a little bit of a fiery guy, and she really helped keep the team together and keep us going today.”
Magsam agreed with her partner’s assessment.
“I don’t think I could say it any better myself,” Magsam said.
The final 12 after the semifinal round will compete in match play at 12:30 and 4:30 p.m. After the final match-play round, the champions will be crowned based on total pinfall and each will earn a national title for their respective tours.
Here are the remaining final standings from qualifying:
