ARLINGTON, Texas – Coming off a highly successful performance at the 2022 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions in Rio de Janeiro last week, Team USA is shifting its focus to the future as the National Selection Committee has chosen participants for events in Peru and Australia this fall.
Breanna Clemmer, Bryanna Coté, Danielle McEwan, Lauren Pate, Jordan Richard and Stephanie Zavala will don the stars and stripes at the PANAM Bowling Women’s Championships, which will be contested at Videna Bowling Center in the San Luis District of Lima, Peru from Oct. 22-29.
The event will feature six days of competition with medals being awarded in singles, doubles, trios, team and Masters (formerly all-events).
At the conclusion of the Women’s Championships, Stefanie Johnson will join Coté, McEwan and Richard as well as men’s team members Jakob Butturff, A.J. Johnson, Kris Prather and Kyle Troup as Team USA travels to the Sunshine Coast Region of Queensland, Australia to compete at the International Bowling Federation World Cup 2022 presented by QubicaAMF.
Before those eight bowlers take center stage, however, members of Para Team USA will hit the lanes in Queensland as competition in the Para World Cup runs from Nov. 3-10.
George Holscher, Eddy Hutchens, David Nelson Jr. and Mark Shephard will represent Para Team USA’s men’s team while Debra Freed, Jennifer Hooten, Emma “Toodie” Perry and Stacy Sanders compete for the USA in Para women’s action.
When Para competition draws to a close, the IBF World Cup will get underway with tournament action running from Nov. 12-23 at Suncity Tenpin Bowl.
This year’s World Cup will be the first to be conducted using a newly adopted format that, according to the IBF website, was designed to “showcase individual performance and teamwork with skill, endurance, knowledge and strategy as key ingredients to be able to walk as champions.”
The event will feature a combination of singles matches and four-person Baker team play with individuals and teams earning points for their countries and contributing to team totals that will determine the overall winners.
The new format is intended to place a premium on teamwork, strategy and versatility, three qualities that Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe sees plenty of on the 2022 Team USA roster.
“We have an amazing group of talented bowlers representing Team USA again this year, and the 11 bowlers traveling to Peru and Australia are some of the best,” O’Keefe said. “As always, we are proud to have the opportunity to represent our country at these prestigious events, so we are looking forward to competing and hopefully bringing home some medals.”
The odds of accomplishing that goal seem to be pretty good as the 11 bowlers competing in Peru and Australia have combined to win 138 medals (74 gold) in international competition during their respective Team USA careers.
Coté, Prather and A.J. Johnson were responsible for the latest additions to that total as all three were part of last week’s successful Team USA effort at the 2022 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions in Rio de Janeiro.
Prather led the way, capturing gold medals in doubles, singles and all-events. Coté and Johnson both took gold in doubles and bronze in both singles and all-events. Shannon O’Keefe was the fourth member of the team in Rio de Janeiro, joining Coté in the doubles victory while also claiming gold in all-events and silver in singles in her final event for Team USA.
Stefanie Johnson will be looking to close out her 18-year international career on a similarly high note; the 2022 World Cup will be Johnson’s last tournament as a member of Team USA.