August 1, 2026 Nolan Hughes

The first day of qualifying in the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, held at Copperfield Bowl in Houston, completed on Friday.

Eighty of more than 150 teams competed during the first two qualifying squads in the national title event honoring Luci Bonneau, a long-time PWBA Tour player and close friend of SABC founder Donna Conners.

Since the first event in 2000, the X Out Breast Cancer Foundation has raised more than one million dollars in the fight against breast cancer.

The atmosphere of the event, one typically filled with joy and nostalgia, was dampened by the news of Jakob Butturff’s sudden death. Butturff, an eight-time PBA Tour champion, died at the age of 32 on Friday.

 

Andrew Anderson and Erin McCarthy led the field with a total pinfall of 3,127. They averaged more than 223 as a team, each bowling seven individual games on the 40-foot oil pattern.

Complete standings are available here.

Anderson competed with Butturff on Team USA for five years from 2018-2023. They, along with AJ Johnson and Kris Prather, helped Team USA win the men’s trios gold medal during the 2021 IBF Super World Championships.

“You’ll never meet a nicer person,” Anderson wrote on social media. “(Jakob) truly just loved people. I’m crushed. Check on your people.”

Twenty-seven pins behind the leaders are Deo Benard and Rocio Restrepo in second place.

Stu Williams and Josie Barnes led A-squad, firing 3,083 for their 14 combined games. 

Williams and Barnes credited their past experience bowling doubles tournaments together, as well as Williams’ stints as a ball rep on the PWBA Tour, to their success. Williams said watching the women bowl during a few PWBA Tour majors, which included the 2025 USBC Queens won by Barnes, helped him learn Barnes’ ball motion and preferences.

“Once you start bowling together for a certain amount of time, you can read each other pretty well,” Barnes said. “I think after Game 2, it was pretty obvious that Stu was feeling comfortable and confident. I felt like I was executing well, but my ball reaction just didn't necessarily match up with how I felt like I was executing, but I didn't need to overcompensate."

"When I bowl, I think I see the lane better than I necessarily perform,” Williams added. “So when I bowl with somebody who will trust what I’m suggesting or have the confidence to try something — and Josie has no fear to make changes — that's what makes it easy for us to bowl together.”

Defending champion Chris Via was unable to compete with Bryanna Coté, who cannot compete due to her recovery from glaucoma surgery.

Instead, Via partnered with four-time Luci champion Shannon Pluhowsky. They sit in 10th place after A- and B-squads with a total pinfall of 3,003.

JR Clemons and Maria Bulanova sit in 20th place with half of the field’s scores in the books, totaling 2,906 for their 14 games.

Several PBA Tour stars are set to compete on Saturday, including multi-time Luci champions EJ Tackett and Anthony Simonsen. 

Tackett, competing with Diandra Asbaty, enters the tournament with an average of 229.79 for his 438 games this season. Jason Belmonte set the PBA Tour’s single-season average record with a 229.39 average in the 2017 season. 

To break Belmonte's record, Tackett will need to shoot at least 1,433 for seven games, 2,351 for 11 games or 5,104 for 23 games.

Simonsen will look to win his third title in the past four years with Danielle Urbano (McEwan). The duo went back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, and Urbano also won the Luci with EJ Tackett in 2021.

All players will bowl seven games of qualifying. After all four squads compete, the top 40 teams will advance to Sunday's semifinals.

Teams will bowl four more games Sunday morning with the top 12 teams advancing to round-robin match play. The team with the highest pinfall after match play wins. There is no stepladder finals.

Across all rounds, players will bowl singles games with combined scores comprising the team total. There are no baker doubles games.

All rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

Full standings will be available here.

More information on the event is available on the Striking Against Breast Cancer website and Facebook page.

Tournament Schedule

All times Eastern

Saturday, Aug. 1 — BowlTV
9a — C-squad Qualifying (seven games)
3p — D-squad Qualifying (seven games)
9p — Pro-Am

Sunday, Aug. 2 — BowlTV
9a — Semifinals (4 games)
12:30p — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round-robin)
4:30p — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round-robin)

Past Champions

2025 — Chris Via and Bryanna Coté
2024 — Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan
2023 — Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan
2022 — EJ Tackett and Diandra Asbaty
2021 — EJ Tackett and Danielle McEwan
2019 — Kyle Sherman and Amanda Greene
2018 — EJ Tackett and Liz Johnson
2017 — Jason Sterner and Birgit Poppler
2016 — Bill O'Neill and Shannon O'Keefe
2015 — Bill O'Neill and Shannon O'Keefe
2014 — Scott Norton and Missy Parkin
2013 — Bill O'Neill and Shannon O'Keefe
2012 — Bryan O'Keefe and Shannon O'Keefe
2011 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2010 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2009 — Parker Bohn III and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
2008 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2007 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2006 — Marc Laracuente and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
2005 — Paul Fleming and Rachel Perez
2004 — Russell Wilson and Kristal Scott
2003 — Wes Malott and Genie Franklin
2002 — Dino Castillo and Diandra Hyman
2001 — Chris Barnes and Amy Dillon
2000 — Mark Scroggins and Donna Conners