Saturday, January 31, 2009

New Record for a Male with Muscular Dystrophy!

At Quad Squad bowling this month, 16 year old Alex McDonald set--and reset--the record for power wheelchair bowling by a male with Muscular Dystrophy!

Since I'm going to post the verified scoresheet, I have to "explain" Alex's first game... warm up! Typically speaking, the first few strike attempts and spare attempts, it is a "feeling out" process to see how our bowling ball will break with certain shots, given the lane conditions, and also how our IKAN Bowlers are set up, and it's also all relative to how our bodies are positioned in our chairs. So when you see that Alex opened with a 91, that isn't his usual, but it is not uncommon to see missed shots and multiple splits particularly in the first game as we get acclimated (the circled number below indicates a split).

So after a warm up game, Alex started heating up. He improved his second game by 30 points, then went "off" in his third game. I was bowling next to him and we have a healthy (and friendly) competition.

Alex started bowling his third game before I started mine, so as he made a good shot, I needed to answer. After opening with an open frame, Alex quickly got on a roll. He actually finished with just two open frames that game--he had either a strike or spare in the eight other frames--and finished with a new MD record of 180! :-)

I managed to keep the heat on Alex and finished with 176 that game. I congratulated Alex on his new record, and we both wanted to bowl a fourth game. Once again, Alex started with an open frame (a difficult split) but then he finished with NO open frames and smashed his 180 with an impressive 192! :-)

Again I kept the heat on with another 176, but the bowling day clearly belonged to Alex. And so does the record for power wheelchair bowling by a male with Muscular Dystrophy!

Congratulations Alex, and welcome to the 190-Club! I sincerely look forward to you joining the 200-Club with me and two others (Jon Musgrave, the overall record holder with a 243 high game; and a Veteran named Anthony, who I believe had a 214 high game, but unfortunately he passed away--which helps to underscore the importance of us wheelchair users enjoying ourselves when we can, just like able-bodied people do, and bowling is a good way we can).

May God bless all who read this and may you find some enjoyment every day--bowling or otherwise!

Click HERE for Alex's scoresheet!

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 206 High Bowling Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
My blog: http://powerwheelchairusers.blogspot.com/
Business website: http://www.ikanbowler.com/
Personal website: http://www.lookmomnohands.net/