Merit Mixed Doubles Championship



$200,000 MERIT MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Sam's Town Bowling Center, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 1996
Willams And Sill Combine For Merit Mixed Win

For Mark Williams it was a long time coming. For Aleta Sill It was business as usual at the Merit Mixed Doubles Championship in Las Vegas.

The pair, who qualified sixth for the $200,000 event, led rounds two and three and were never threatened in the Merit Power Position Round to earn the title and team check for 540,000. The win was the seventh of Wllliams' career and first since 1988, while the title was the 27th of Sill's career and marked the third time In four events she has been half of the winning team in this tournament.

Williams and Sill were second after the first round of eight games, but climbed into the lead after round two and never let go. After three rounds, the field of 24 teams was cut to the top four and they returned for the final Merit Power Position Round, which featured four consecutive position round games.

Sill, Dearborn, Mich., started the final round with a 300 game and won all four of her individual matches as the pair was never pressured in the final tree games. Williams, Beaumont, Texas, won three of his four individual matches in the final round and as a team they also went 3-1. They finished 315 pins ahead of the team of Pete Weber and Anne Marie Duggan.

As a team, William. and Sill went 17-101, with William. going 14-12-2 and Sill posting a 18-8-2 record. Williams averaged 244 and Sill averaged 242 for their 28 games. Weber and Duggan finished second, followed by the teams of Steve Jaros and Lisa Wagner and Tommy Delutz Jr. and Leanne Barrette.

Webs and Duggan split $22,000 for second, Jaros and Wagner split $16,000 for third, and Delutz and Barrette each get half of the $12,000 fourth-place checkThe tournament contested at Sam's Town Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center, was a high scoring affair featuring 13 perfect games and two PBA scoring records. John Mazza established a record for 16 games (4,095) and Weber broke his own 24-game record by totaling 6,109 through three rounds.

28-GAME TOTALS

 Name, City/StatePins  WLT+TotAmt
#1Aleta Sill, Dearborn, MI
Mark Williams, Beaumont, TX		 13645 17-10-1 865 14510 $40,000
2Anne Marie Duggan, Edmond, OK
Pete Weber, St. Ann, MO		 13500 13-15-0 695 14195 22,000
#3Lisa Wagner, Palmetto, FL
# Steve Jaros, Bolingbrook, IL		 13382 17-11-0 800 14182 16,000
4Leanne Barrette, San Lorenzo, CA
# Tommy Delutz Jr., Jamaica, NY		 13213 14-13-1 730 13943 12,000

24-GAME TOTALS

 Name, City/StatePins  WLT+TotAmt
5Carol Norman, Oklahoma City
# Danny Wiseman, Baltimore		 11537 12-12-0 610 12147 $10,000
#6Tish Johnson, Northridge, CA
Justin Hromek, Andover, KS		 11464 12-12-0 610 12101 8,000
#7Marianne DiRupo, Succasunna, NJ
Doug Kent, Canandaigua, NY		 11482 11-13-0 595 12077 7,000
8Darns Street, Fresno, CA
Dave Arnold, Gilbert, AZ		 11322 16-8-0 745 12067 6,600
9Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, NY
Eric Forkel, Tucson, AZ		 11340 15-9-0 700 12040 6,400
10Kim Canady, Oakland, CA
Butch Soper, Lake Havasu City, AZ		 11468 11-13-0 550 12018 6,200
11Cathy Dorin, Linden, NJ
Curtis Odom, Coldwater, MI		 11334 13-11-0 650 11984 6,000
12Debbie McMullen, Denver, CO
Rick Steelsmith, Wichita, KS		 11300 14-10-0 665 11965 5,800
13Julie Gardner, Huntington Beach, CA
Tim Criss, Bel Air, MD		 11279 12-12-0 640 11919 5,600
14Jackie Sellers, DuBois, PA
Brian Voss' Atlanta		 11338 10-14-0 550 11888 5,400
15Kim Adler, Palm Bay, FL
# Bob Learn Jr., Erie, PA		 11301 12-12-0 565 11866 5,200
16Carol Gianotti-Block, Perth, Australia
# John Mazza, Shelby Township, MI		 11237 13-11-0 620 11857 5,000
17Wendy Macpherson, Henderson, NV
Walter Ray Williams Jr., Stockton, CA		 11231 10-14-0 535 11766 4,800
18Cindy Coburn-Carroll, Buffalo, NY
Philip Ringener, Big Spring, TX		 11125 13-11-0 640 11765 4,600
19Dede Davidson, Clearwater, FL
# Jason Couch, Clermont, FL		 11154 1311-0 580 11734 4,400
20Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, N. Richland Hills, TX
David Traber, Woodstock, IL		 11165 11-13-0 540 11705 4,200
#21Robin Romeo-Mossonte, Newhall, CA
# Steve Wilson, Tamarac, FL		 11177 10-14-0 490 11667 4,000
22Sandra Jo Shiery-Odom, Coldwater, MI
Parker Bohn III, Jackson, NJ		 11095 10-14-0 535 11630 3,800
23Jan Schmidt, Rochelle, IL
# Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, KS		 11048 9-15-0 480 11528 3,600
24Cheryl Daniels, Detroit, MI
Norm Duke, Clermont, FL		 11065 7-17-0 385 11450 3,400

24-game qualifying leaders-Mark Williams and Aleta Sill, 12,373. #-Jason Couch, Tommy Delutz Jr., Bryan Goebel, Steve Jaros, Bob Learn Jr., John Mazza Steve Wilson, Danny Wiseman, Lisa Wagner, Marianne DiRupo, Tish Johnson, Robin Romeo-Mossonte and Aleta Sill rolled 300 games ($100 each). PRO-AM CASHER Bohn III, Jason Couch, Tim Criss, Tommy Delutz Jr., Norm Duke, Bryan Goebel, Bob Learn Jr., Rick Steelsmith, Steve Wilson, Danny Wiseman ($200 each); Eric Forkel, Curtis Odom, Phil Ringener ($400 each); John Mazza, Steve Jaros ($300 each); Walter Ray Williams Jr., Doug Kent ($600). PBA Averages-M. William., 244.6; Weber, 253; Jaros, 243.1; Delutz, 249.1; Wiseman, 240.7; Hromek, 239.5; Kent, 236.8; Arnold, 245.7; Forkel, 238.6; Soper, 243.8; Odom, 236.2; Steelsmith, 238.8; Criss, 250.7; Voss, 232.9; Learn, 236.5; Mazza, 248.8; W. Williams, 229.3; Ringener, 235.3; Couch, 234.4; Traber, 230.8; Wilson, 237.9; Bohn, 235.1; Goebel, 238; Duke, 242.