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Syd is an avid bowler. She was previously on a ladies league
in Crofton, Nebraska for three years and has been with the
Yankton mixed doubles league for about two years. Zurcher has
the highest game and series of the team, her highest game of
244 and highest series of 545.
Jan Putnam, Yankton USBC #80476 Association Manager
and her mother, Lonnie Remington, league secretary, know
a great team when they see one. They contacted these four
ladies to see if they would be interested in participating in this
state tournament. It turns out Jan and Lonnie were pretty good
match-makers in setting up these four as a team. Weverstad
had gone to the state tournament once before, but this was a
new experience for Drotzmann, Honner and Zurcher, who had
never before attended.
Putnam came up with their team name ‘Split Pin Rollers’ by
combining all four of their league names. “Split” coming from
Drotzmann’s league name of Split Happens and Zurcher’s name
of The Split Ends. “Pin” came in from Honner’s league name
of 5-Pinners and “Rollers” from Weverstad’s league name of
“Hot Rollers.” The four of them didn’t practice together at all
before the state tournament. Without any expectations, they
were just hoping to bowl well and have a great time. “It’s kind
of funny, we bowled (Saturday) for the team, and then Sunday
we showed up and didn’t think anything of it and Jan was like,
‘come here’ to show us (the scores) and we were first!” Zurcher
laughed. They still had to wait until the final results were posted
after the tournament was over to see if anyone bumped them
out of first place.
6vHERVOICE JULY/AUGUST 2015
When I asked them if they now felt as if bowling was “their
sport,” they all laughed. They still feel pretty novice to the
game. Weverstad didn’t have her own shoes or ball during her
first year of bowling, instead using house shoes & a house
ball. When she first bowled state, she bought her first pair
of bowling shoes and she just got her ball this year. A little
funny considering her husband has several bowling balls. She
showed up at this state tournament without a bowling bag, “I’d
just carry my ball and had my shoes in my purse,” she laughed.
They’ve all had their share of embarrassing moments; all of
them confessing to accidentally throwing the ball backwards
when it was their turn. “Throwing it backwards makes a huge
THUD,” said Drotzmann, “Everybody can hear it.”
“Gutter balls are the most embarrassing,” said Zurcher and
they all laughed. Weverstad said she’d forgotten to switch lanes
on her very first night bowling. She went back to her original
lane and had to be reminded by her bowling opponents that
she had to switch lanes. They all laughed, a lighthearted group
obviously just bowling for the fun of it.
What do they like most about bowling? They all agreed that
it’s a fun night out, especially in the winter months. Some
commented that it’s a night out with their husbands. They
seek out other bowling opportunities, having gone bowling on
vacation, in other towns or for Drotzmann, bowling on the cruise
ship during her honeymoon. Weverstad has taken her fondness
for bowling to the next generation, introducing the sport to her
daughter at age three. Now four, her daughter also belongs to a
bowling league.
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