August 1, 2026 Nolan Hughes

After the first round of qualifying, Andrew Anderson and Erin McCarthy stood atop the leaderboard in the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles.

Anderson owns six PBA Tour titles, including one major, and won the 2018 PBA Player of the Year award. McCarthy is a three-time PWBA Tour champion with two major wins.

Anderson notched a total pinfall of 1,697 for his seven games, while McCarthy added 1,430.

They averaged a combined 223.36 for their 14 games to pace the 160-team field across four squads on Friday and Saturday at Copperfield Bowl in Houston.

Two-time champions of this tournament, Anthony Simonsen and Danielle Urbano (McEwan), led C-squad and sit in second place overall with a total pinfall of 3,103.

Urbano also won the 2021 event with EJ Tackett.

The D-squad leaders were the unexpected pairing of PBA50 Tour star Tom Hess and collegiate bowler Keira Magsam.

The pairing came together as Hess said he scanned the Team USA Trials standings and recognized Magsam, who bowled Iowa youth tournaments with Hess’ daughter.

Hess is leading this season’s PBA50 Tour Player of the Year race entering the final title event, which begins next week in West Virginia.

“I'm coming off of a lot of bowling on the PBA50 Tour,” Hess said. “This is an event that every bowler wants to make. The Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event is huge. Donna Conners and her team do an awesome job of putting this event together, and it's one that means a lot to me to get here to bowl.”

The Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles is defined by the charitable efforts led by SABC founder Donna Conners, who has organized this event in honor of Luci Bonneau, a long-time PWBA Tour player and Conners’ close friend, for 26 years.

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.

Also on D-squad, EJ Tackett and Diandra Asbaty qualified fourth and 18th overall.

Tackett entered the tournament with an average of 229.79 for his 438 games this season, and shot 1,580 for his seven games, setting the stage for himself to break the PBA Tour’s single-season average record on Sunday.

Tackett will need to shoot at least 771 for his four games in the semifinal round to break Jason Belmonte’s 2017 record of 229.39.

If Tackett and Asbaty advance to the 12-game finals, Tackett will need a total of 3,524 pins for his 16 games on Sunday, a pace of 220.25.

The 2022 champions are 31 pins behind 12th-placed Jake Peters and Stefanie Johnson, who have a total pinfall of 3,030.

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

Defending champion Chris Via and Shannon Pluhowsky competed on B-squad and sit in 16th place. Via was unable to compete with Bryanna Coté, who cannot compete due to her recovery from glaucoma surgery.. 

All players bowled seven games of qualifying on the 40-foot oil pattern. The top 40 teams will advance to Sunday's semifinals.

François Lavoie and Crystal Elliott earned the final berth in the 40-team advancing field with a total pinfall of 2,892.

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

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