Sunday, March 2 marked an impressive day, not only for Kellie Shutter who reached a personal milestone in her bowling career, but also for women's bowling.
During singles competition in the Women's City Tournament at Falcon Lanes, Shutter rolled her first career 300 game and the first by a women's bowler since Sara Chalupnicki rolled a 300 on the lanes last November.
“It was nice,” Shutter said. “There were only 12 other people there. We were bowling on lanes nine through 12. But there were some people, some friends around; it was a really nice feeling.”
Shutter, who began her bowling career as a 7-years-old at Cayuga Lanes, followed the same path as many of her family members.
“My parents bowled,” Shutter said. “My father, Robert Ripley, got junior bowling started at Cayuga Lanes. It was always a lot of fun and something I've pretty much done all my life.”
While these days Shutter's focus is on her children, she has never really strayed too far from the lanes.
“I missed a year or two to have my two children,” Shutter said. “Now I'm a stay-at-home mom, so it is a nice night out with friends.”
Shutter is still a dedicated bowler, competing every Tuesday night at Rainbow Lanes and averaging 187 this year. But admittedly for Shutter, it has never been about the competition.
“I think I've been bowling well,” Shutter said. “Especially since I only bowl the one night a week. For me it isn't really a competitive thing, I just like the fun of it. I don't really get in too many tournaments or anything like that. For me the competition can sometimes ruin the fun of it.”
But, lucky for her, she decided to enter the Women's City Tournament and found her rhythm and bowled well all day.
It was during her fifth game that the 300 found Shutter, besting her personal high of 279 that she said came almost 10 years ago.
“I really didn't think about it,” Shutter said. “I shot pretty well. When I got the sixth and seventh strikes I thought maybe I can get a 300 and around the 11th and 12th strikes my knees were knocking a little bit when I started to realize that I could really finally get a 300.”
Now that she has reached this impressive career milestone, Shutter still has several other goals she'd still like to accomplish.
“I've got three 700s,” Shutter said. “I'd still like to shoot another one of those, so I guess that is kind of the next thing for me.”
“It was nice,” Shutter said. “There were only 12 other people there. We were bowling on lanes nine through 12. But there were some people, some friends around; it was a really nice feeling.”
Shutter, who began her bowling career as a 7-years-old at Cayuga Lanes, followed the same path as many of her family members.
“My parents bowled,” Shutter said. “My father, Robert Ripley, got junior bowling started at Cayuga Lanes. It was always a lot of fun and something I've pretty much done all my life.”
While these days Shutter's focus is on her children, she has never really strayed too far from the lanes.
“I missed a year or two to have my two children,” Shutter said. “Now I'm a stay-at-home mom, so it is a nice night out with friends.”
Shutter is still a dedicated bowler, competing every Tuesday night at Rainbow Lanes and averaging 187 this year. But admittedly for Shutter, it has never been about the competition.
“I think I've been bowling well,” Shutter said. “Especially since I only bowl the one night a week. For me it isn't really a competitive thing, I just like the fun of it. I don't really get in too many tournaments or anything like that. For me the competition can sometimes ruin the fun of it.”
But, lucky for her, she decided to enter the Women's City Tournament and found her rhythm and bowled well all day.
It was during her fifth game that the 300 found Shutter, besting her personal high of 279 that she said came almost 10 years ago.
“I really didn't think about it,” Shutter said. “I shot pretty well. When I got the sixth and seventh strikes I thought maybe I can get a 300 and around the 11th and 12th strikes my knees were knocking a little bit when I started to realize that I could really finally get a 300.”
Now that she has reached this impressive career milestone, Shutter still has several other goals she'd still like to accomplish.
“I've got three 700s,” Shutter said. “I'd still like to shoot another one of those, so I guess that is kind of the next thing for me.”
The Citizens' Say
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