NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ…For the fifth consecutive year, earning the #1 seed at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women’s Bowling Singles Championship proved to be unlucky. Fairleigh Dickinson University junior Erica Perez (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) steamrolled her way through the qualifying round to earn the #1 seed, and won a quarterfinal and semifinal playoff match. But University of Maryland Eastern Shore sophomore Kristina Frahm (Oswego, IL/Oswego East) guaranteed that the top seed would not win the championship again, defeating Perez in the finals by a margin of 213-178.
In all, the largest field in the five-year history of the event featured 96 keglers and 406 total games on day one of the 2009 ECAC Championship on Friday night at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes. The ECAC Championship is hosted annually by New Jersey City University.
Frahm, the sixth seed, became the second lowest seed to win the title in the history of the championship. Meanwhile, Perez became the fifth consecutive FDU bowler to claim the #1 seed in the single-elimination tournament after four rounds of qualifying. She became the third #1 seed to lose in the finals.
The loss by Perez spoiled a tremendous effort. She rolled games of 225-225-227-257 for a 934 qualifying set and had a 233.5 average. She posted a 70-pin qualifying margin over UMES sophomore Martha Perez (Bogota, Colombia/English School).
With 96 athletes competing, the playoff bracket was expanded from eight quarterfinalists in 2008 to 12 players this year. The top four seeds received a first round bye. Of the 12 bowlers that reached the playoffs, FDU and UMES had four players advance each.
NJCU junior JENN MARMO (North Babylon, NY/North Babylon) became the first player in ECAC history to qualify for the single-elimination playoff round in three consecutive years and the first to reach the championship bracket more than twice in a career, sequentially or not.
In the first round, #8 seeded Delaware State University junior Kalyn Washburn (Tucson, AZ/Nebraska-Lincoln) defeated #9 Marmo, 268-150. The 268 was the highest game rolled by any player in the 406 total games played during Friday’s qualifying and playoff rounds. Frahm ousted 11th seeded FDU freshman Joely Carrillo (Clifton, NJ/Paramus Catholic), 196-153.
The four higher seeds all advanced in the opening round. Sophomore Tracy Ganjoin (Brick, NJ/Brick), the fifth seed, defeated 12th seeded Adelphi University freshman Erika Drake (Miller Place, NY/Floral Park Memorial), 199-134. UMES freshman Paula Vilas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Univ. of APEC), the seventh seed, eliminated sophomore Sara Litteral (Chesterfield, MI/L’anse Creuse North) of FDU, the 10th seed, 235-181.
That set up the quarterfinals, where Erica Perez was the only player who received a first round bye that would survive into the semifinals, as she knocked off Washburn, 213-161.
In the most interesting match of the tournament, Vilas was paired with #2 seeded Martha Perez, and the UMES teammates tied, 213-213. The tiebreaking procedure involves bowling the ninth and 10th frames again, and this nearly resulted in another deadlock, with Vilas edging her teammate, 39-38.
In another All-UMES quarterfinal, Frahm defeated the third seed, freshman Christine Benson (Greensberg, PA/Greensberg Salem), 214-183 and Ganjoin knocked off the fourth seed, Delaware State freshman Krystyna Johnson (Montgomery, IL/Oswego East), 233-154.
In an all-teammates semifinal, Erica Perez outlasted Ganjoin, 226-215, in the All-FDU portion, while Frahm edged Vilas, 196-182 in the meeting of the 6/7 seeds from UMES.
On day two of the ECAC Championship on Saturday, March 7, beginning at 10:30 a.m., the 14-team field will bowl six traditional team games.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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2009 ECAC WOMEN'S BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIP: SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
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FIRST ROUND
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#5 Tracy Ganjoin (FDU) def. #12 Erika Drake (Adelphi), 199-134
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#6 Kristina Frahm (UMES) def. #11 Joely Carrillo (FDU), 196-153
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#7 Paula Vilas (UMES) def. #10 Sara Litteral (FDU), 235-181
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#8 Kalyn Washburn (Del. State) def. #9 Jenn Marmo (NJCU), 268-150
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QUARTERFINALS
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#1 Erica Perez (FDU) def. #8 Kalyn Washburn (Del. State) , 213-161
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#7 Paula Vilas (UMES) def. #2 Martha Perez (UMES), 213-213 (Vilas wins two-frame tiebreaker, 39-38)
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#6 Kristina Frahm (UMES) def. #3 Christine Benson (UMES), 214-183
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#5 Tracy Ganjoin (FDU) def. #4 Krystyna Johnson (Del. State), 233-154
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SEMIFINALS
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#1 Erica Perez (FDU) def. #5 Tracy Ganjoin (FDU), 226-215
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#6 Kristina Frahm (UMES) def. #7 Paula Vilas (UMES), 196-182
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CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
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#6 Kristina Frahm (UMES) def. #1 Erica Perez (FDU), 213-178
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