Some bowlers from the 100 Mile House area came home with all-star honours after the two-day Interior Bowling Championships co-hosted by Chase and Salmon Arm on March 16-17.
“It’s always nice because it’s the top five in the tournament,” said Larry Richet, who came in fourth place. “Whenever you’re up there it’s pretty good.”
Wendi Malinksy came in fifth.
Richet is also the co-owner of Big Country Lanes Bowling Alley which runs seven leagues as well as open bowling. He said to have two people to get good results in the tournament is a great building block.
“I think it bodes well for our bowling club and everything else. We’re starting to build. You have to start somewhere and I think it’s a good building block that helps other people get involved. We’d love to have more participation in these events,” he said. “The more bowlers out, obviously the better.”
It was the first time the club has submitted two teams to the Interior Championships (a team of five men and other of six women). Richet said the results made him feel good due to the interest in seeing bowling make a comeback in the area, saying the sport kind of died off in the past.
He also said a few bowlers who moved to 100 Mile House from bigger population centres, such as Kamloops, in the past five or six years made it possible.
“One, in particular, she was a push behind it really. She wanted to get an Interior team and so did me and my wife also because we both bowled in the Interior Champions when I was in Kamloops,” he explained. “Between the three of us, we pushed it and got enough participation to get two teams going. We went down to Chase and Salmon Arm and like I said we did very well, considering we were a brand new entry.”
Richet will also be playing in the provincial tournament in Nanaimo this year, after coming in third place in the Northern Zone Roll Off tournament.
BC Bowl is divided into six zones based on geography. The Northern Zone, which 100 Mile House is in, stretches from there to Dawson Creek and Terrace. So all of the bowling alleys and clubs bowl off in order to make the BC North team. The top nine men and women make up the teams. The top three in each gender play on the team as well as play as singles.
“It’s really kind of cool because we didn’t have bowling here much in the past,” he said. “In the three years, it’s made a fair resurgence kind of.”
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