After practicing weekly since mid-August, the Special Olympics Indiana Jackson County bowlers finally got to begin competition.
The county tournament was Tuesday night at Scottsburg Lanes.
Sixteen athletes were split into four divisions, and each bowled three games before ribbons were awarded based on a handicap formula.
Winning their divisions were David Perrin, Todd Smith, Joya Buddo and Rob Smith.
Perrin’s game scores were 85, 130 and 113. His second game score was the highest in his division. Finishing second through fifth were Derrick Martin, Elijah Noble, Darrell Stevens and Cassie Brock.
Todd Smith posted Jackson County’s highest game score on the day with a 182, and then he rolled a 114 and a 109. Rounding out his division’s placings were Tim Ashburn, second; Dale Hickman, third; Donald Bennethum, fourth; and Josh Beals, fifth.
Buddo only had one other person in her division. Her game scores were 56, 56 and 39. Kayla Kriete placed second.
Finally, Rob Smith rolled games of 96, 83 and 70 to win his division. Becky Klosterman placed second, Averie Brennan finished third and Alysha Sandlin took fourth.
The Area 2 tournament is set for Nov. 5 at Blackiston Bowl in Clarksville. Once the county tournament entries are received from all programs in Area 2, the area tournament director will determine if the number of entries exceeds the area capacity.
If numbers do not exceed capacity, all bowlers who competed in their county tournament will be eligible for the area tournament.
If the area entries exceed capacity, the county tournaments will become eliminator tournaments, and the area director will notify the counties how many bowlers will be able to advance.
Like past years, many area tournaments are near their capacity, as bowling is Special Olympics Indiana’s largest sport.
The state bowling tournament will be Dec. 3 and 4 at Western Bowl and Woodland Bowl, both in Indianapolis.