Students compete during USBC championship meet

From left, Kylie Waterson, Lauren Liercke, Malia Rivera and Danielle Fincham pose with their awards following their performance at the Elmore County U.S. Bowling Congress Youth Singles Championship tournament on Sunday.

School age children and teens from the local area put their skills to the test during the Elmore County U.S. Bowling Congress Youth Singles Championship on Sunday.

Held at Freedom Lanes, the top eight players walked away with their share of $2,150 in scholarship money.

"These young participants will go forward to college with a head start at building their college savings account," said event spokesperson Paula Szafranski.

Kylie Waterson led the pack of youth bowlers to win this year's event. Lauren Liercke finished second overall while Malia Rivera came in third and Danielle Fincham was fourth.

As the youngsters gathered with excitement, the anticipation built with the hopes of earning scholarship money just by doing something they love, said local bowling association spokesperson Paula Szafranski.

"There was a sense of pride at what they had accomplished," Szafranski said.

Money allocated to the scholarships was collected during the year from donations by local sponsors along with bake sales and raffles.

"The tournament has change a lot since the past years, and it takes a lot of people to make this a successful tournament," Szafranski said.