By By Mike Carson/The Meridian Star
June 13, 2001
The crowd was on its feet once again last week as Ken Miller welcomed in the summer season with the ninth perfect game of the year. Miller's third career 300 Game took place in the Queen City league last Thursday and came only two weeks after his teammate punched out 12 straight strikes for the season's eighth perfecto.
Ken went on to finish the night with a 735 series, but it wasn't quite enough to capture the High Series for the week. That honor went to Mike Cothern, who blasted out a 755 set in the Wednesday Night Mixed league.
Tim Van Doren was a close second with a 754. All together, a total of 13 700s were recorded in last week's action. Other bowlers topping the "7" mark were Chuck Gray, M.A. Copeland, Johnnie Blackmon, Randy Rives, Ron Coleman, James Bloomer, James Weathers, Mike Holcomb and Shayne Barfield.
Mike Carson and Rodney Bounds each rolled games of 279 while M.A. Copeland found the mark with a 278. Mike Cothern chipped in with a 2775 effort.
Congratulations to Bob Sumrall, who earned the ABC Century Award by firing off a 251 Game in the Wednesday night Mixed league. Sumrall's career high game topped his average by a whopping 105 pins.
On the ladies side of the fence, Billie Coleman continued to regain her form by taking the High Series for the week with a nice 640 set in the Ball &Chain league. Two ladies tied for High Game honors when Nita Fike and Mona McGrane each recorded games of 232. Coleman got into the sweepstakes with a 226 while Jane Gibson, Shirley Gaines and Judy Harwell all put together games of 220.
Don't forget the annual Christmas Sale going on at Dixie Bowl. All balls, bags and shoes are reduced with selected merchandise marked up to 50 percent off.
Finally, quite a few people were trying to guess the answer to last week's trivia question. Some of them actually got it right! The first lady in Meridian to bowl a 300 game was Jan Kasper. What seemed to stump some people was the fact that she bowled not at Dixie Bowl, but at NAS McCain lanes.
Many leagues will be wrapping up first-half action in the next few weeks, so we well try to keep an eye on those races for you. Hopefully we won't have to have any recounts!