Holly Thurston, Jadyn Arnett, Haylee Wiebe and Kaitlyn Harris will play as Team B.C. at the five-pin bowling youth national championships.
The foursome from Prince George's Black Diamond Lanes struck for gold at the 4 Steps to Stardom provincial finals in Chilliwack on the weekend. Their four-game total of 2,169 gave them top spot in the six-team bantam girls division and earned them a berth in nationals, May 3-5 in Winnipeg.
Thurston and company finished 184 points ahead of the second-place team, Juniper Lanes of Cranbrook. Scottsdale Lanes of Surrey ended up third.
The Black Diamond girls are coached by Lee Sheppard.
Three other local teams -- the bantam boys from Nechako Lanes, the junior boys from Nechako and the senior girls from Black Diamond -- also rolled to medals at provincials.
The Nechako bantam boys posted a score of 2,077 and finished in bronze-medal position behind Lincoln Lanes of Vernon (2,460) and Willowbrook Lanes of Langley (2,246). The Nechako team, formed by Ryder Darin, Aidan Hartford, Spencer Ponto, Dakota Giroux and coach Cec MacAdams, finished just three points ahead of fourth-place Brechin Lanes of Nanaimo.
The Nechako junior boys, meanwhile, were on target for silver medals. Their total of 2,981 placed them behind Port Coquitlam Bowl (3,192) and ahead of Lincoln Lanes (2,542). Members of the Nechako team are Ben Hendrickson, Dean Florell, Will Peters, Tyler Strizich and coach Ryan Borne.
As for the senior girls from Black Diamond, they were on the lanes in Abbotsford and also brought home silver medals. Black Diamond, comprised of Ashley Aquino, Shae-lyn Rafferty, Caitlin Oakley, Paige Meise and coach Jason Kennedy, finished with a score of 3,177. Port Coquitlam Bowl (3,305) took gold and Castle Bowl of Castlegar (3,066) earned bronze.
In singles competition, also in Abbotsford, Kassidy Johnson and Tiana Tecson from Black Diamond Lanes claimed bronze medals in the junior girls and senior girls categories respectively. Johnson rolled a five-game total of 989 and finished behind Mikayla Eby of Brechin Lanes (1,087) and Caitlyn Maday of Kelowna's Capri Valley Lanes (1,023). Tecson's total of 1,061 placed her behind gold-medalist Brittany DaCosta of Willowbrook Lanes (1,284) and silver-medal-winner Shayla Medeiros of Castle Bowl (1,158).
Also in singles play, Black Diamond's Aiden Parker placed fourth in the bantam boys division with a five-game score of 703.
