Wednesday, Oct. 08, 2008
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Young bowlers seeing amazing success
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closeLess than one year after bowling in his first league, 12-year-old Luke Jordan of Bellingham is a national champion.
"Luke shocked us all," said his 14-year-old doubles partner and mentor, Josh Mullen. "Luke amazes all of us."
Luke, a seventh-grader at Shuksan Middle School, didn't shock his parents, Lyn and Richard Jordan, after rolling his three-game best to win a divisional title in the U.S. Bowling Congress Youth Open Championship Tournament in July.
"Everybody in our bowling center (Bellingham's Park Bowl) has helped Luke to improve," Richard said, explaining how his son improved to the point he rolled a 598 scratch series to win the Division IV title in competition with 149 bowlers in the Detroit suburb of Taylor, Mich.
Luke's explanation is as basic as could be: "Just practice, practice, practice, and bowling in four leagues, especially the Bantam Junior League at Park Bowl. Mostly, it was my dad, my bother and me bowling four games every Sunday and other times, too."
But Josh's father, Jeff Mullen, says Luke is being humble.
"Luke is the most driven kid I've ever seen," he said. "Luke doesn't give himself enough credit. He pushes himself harder than anyone else could push him."
Luke rolled 215, 139 and 244 - with eight consecutive strikes in the last game - to beat the runnerup by 72 pins in competition for youngsters with a 129-under average. But what made him most excited was that his friends could share in his success, both as fans and competitors.
Josh, a freshman at Bellingham High, and Luke combined to take ninth place in doubles with a series total of 991, among 299 teams Along with Yakima's Marshall Kent and Federal Way's Cameron Weier, the two Bellingham bowlers were the only Washington entrants with top-10 divisional finishes.
The boys' brothers, 17-year-old Squalicum senior John Jordan and 9-year-old Geneva Elementary fourth-grader Jacob Mullen, shared in a team success, as well.
Competing in a national field of 522 teams, they finished a respectable 80th with a 1,608 score - an average of 134 per game. The foursome won a state title last April and Jordan claimed singles honors.
Luke didn't even let a little thing like a fractured right wrist stop him from practicing A natural right-hander, he quickly taught himself to bowl left-handed. He didn't get his cast off until shortly before flying to Detroit.
"Luke just likes to be active," Lyn Jordan said. "He's always moving."
The kids are frustrated that bowling doesn't receive the television exposure the sport enjoyed several decades ago during the heyday of Dick Weber and Earl Anthony. But the young bowlers have learned plenty of bowling history and tradition while watching old matches and Sunday shows on ESPN.
Josh's grandmother is Bellingham's Joan Rayborn, the state's USBC association manager.
"I pretty much grew up at Park Bowl," said Josh, whose inspiration and coach has long been Holly Whitney, who works with dozens of young bowlers. "I was in a bowling daycare program, and I think I was 3 years old when I first bowled. I'm told that on the first ball of my life, I rolled a strike."
During Luke's title-winning 244 game, he threw a gutter ball on his first roll, just before he began his string of eight consecutive strikes.
"People at all levels of bowling stopped to watch Luke," Lyn said.
To suggest a story for the Community Sports Spotlight, please contact David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.
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