By BRUCE HEFFLINGER
hefflinger@crescent-news.com
A late-season slump did not stop Karen Zumfelde from regaining her reign at the top of the Defiance Women's All-City Bowling team for the 2007-08 season.
Zumfelde finished with a 200 average to outdistance Angie Wittenmeyer by nine pins. In reality, the Napoleon resident had to beat out a pair of women that failed to bowl enough games to qualify for the All-City team.
"If Janice (Carpenter) and Marsha (Horner) had more games I'd have been third," admitted Zumfelde, who was the top female bowler in the city two years ago but, ironically, didn't have enough games to qualify a year ago when Horner established the all-time record with an average of 214.
Wittenmeyer is a repeat performer on the All-City team, just barely bowling enough games to qualify. Shirley Perez is back on the squad, her first appearance four years, while Chris Spangler and Marilyn Knowles are newcomers to the All-City team.
"I was doing well until January," Zumfelde said about her season, which found her averaging 211 at that point. "Then I fell apart the next three to four months."
Zumfelde's average dipped as low as 198.
"I didn't get my average back up to 200 until the last month of the season," Zumfelde noted. "I always say if I picked up the 10-pin I'd be a good bowler, but I missed it a lot."
But few could argue if she's a good bowler after finishing the season with a 200 average again.
"I had a couple good weeks that brought me up at the end," Zumfelde explained. "I was worried about averaging 200, that's something I've had since 1994 except for one year. I just kept thinking I had to get going."
While leading the city in average, Zumfelde points to something else as more important.
"I enjoy bowling with my team, that's the most important thing," Zumfelde said, referring to her ATL Bryan squad of Perez, Wittenmeyer, Cheryl Retcher and Veronica Marckel in the Holidears league. "What helps me is we all have fun together."
It's helped Zumfelde zoom to the top among city bowlers for the second time in three years.
While Zumfelde headlined the All-City team, Carpenter finished with the highest series of the season at 777 and also rolled the lone 300 game by a female this year, becoming the fourth ever in Defiance to accomplish the feat. The others are Perez, Marckel and Horner.
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FINAL PIN: One last note on the season ... the most difficult part of reporting bowling for the sports staff is often times reading what is submitted by the bowling establishments. While they have been encouraged to print clearly that is often not the case. Thus, Tuesday's listing on 300 bowlers in the city was reported incorrectly with Jeremy Sierra the bowler from Holiday Lanes the proper name for one of three bowlers to roll a 300 game this season. The correct listing of 300 bowlers is being run again in today's edition ... And for all you bowling fans out there, don't miss Bowling's Class of Champions on CBS television Saturday and Sunday. It is the first bowling on network TV since 1999 and features both men and women bowlers.