Junior Olympic Gold

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The Junior Olympic Gold tournament, also known as simply "Junior Gold" or "JOG" is an American national youth singles bowling tournament which showcases youth bowlers who have qualified through certain events. The bowlers in the tournament consist of those who have qualified through qualifiers in other smaller tours, those who are state champions in the Pepsi Youth Bowling Championships (one male and one female), or who have earned an exemption into the tournament by making Junior Team USA. Started in 1998, the tournament has grown to become one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the world.

[edit] History

JOG was started in 1998, headed by David Dahms, manager of the Young American Bowling Allicance USA Junior Olympic Bowling Program. The first tournament was held in 1998 in Reno, Nevada, at the National Bowling Stadium.

There were 538 bowlers in the inaugural championships, with Rory Kalanquin of Davison, Michigan, and Melissa Bellinder of Fullerton, California as the first national champions. Since then, that number has steadily grown, approaching 2,000 bowlers for the 2007 tournament. A few bowlers who excelled in the tournament's earlier years have grown to be recognizable faces, such as Sean Rash, Shannon Pluhowsky, Andrew Cain, and Diandra Asbaty.

[edit] National Champions (1998-2007)

Year	Tourn. Location	Male Champion	Hometown
1998	Reno, Nevada	Rory Kalanquin	Davison, Michigan
1999	Orlando, Florida	Scott Norton	Cypress, California
2000	Las Vegas, Nevada	Nathan Bohr	Austin, Texas
2001	Reno, Nevada	Mike Remaklus	Florissant, Missouri
2002	Winter Haven, Florida	Sean Rash	Anchorage, Alaska
2003	St. Louis, Missouri	Erik Vermilyea	Maplewood, Minnesota
2004	Dallas, Texas	Clay Herrbach	Naperville, Illinois
2005	Indianapolis, Indiana	Chris Bolosan	Newport News, Virginia
2006	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Matt O'Grady	South Amboy, New Jersey
2007	Buffalo, New York	Adam Martinez	San Antonio, Texas

Year	Tourn. Location	Female Champion	Hometown
1998	Reno, Nevada	Melissa Bellinder	Fullerton, California
1999	Orlando, Florida	Shannon Pluhowsky	Phoenix, Arizona
2000	Las Vegas, Nevada	Shannon Pluhowsky	Phoenix, Arizona
2001	Reno, Nevada	Shannon Pluhowsky	Phoenix, Arizona
2002	Winter Haven, Florida	Olivia Sandham	Boulder, Colorado
2003	St. Louis, Missouri	Stefanie Nation	Miami, Florida
2004	Dallas, Texas	Stefanie Nation	Miami, Florida
2005	Indianapolis, Indiana	Stefanie Nation	Miami, Florida
2006	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Jennifer Wright	West Columbia, South Carolina
2007	Buffalo, New York	Jenny Brown	DeLand, Florida