29 Elite Teens to Hit the Lanes in Newest Bowling Competition

SPARTANBURG, S.C., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The roster of competitors for the inaugural Denny's All-American High School Championships is now complete with today's announcement by tournament sponsors of an elite group of 29 senior student-athletes chosen to compete in the March event. Denny's, the Professional Bowlers Association and the United States Bowling Congress made their final selections of the participants based on bowling accomplishments, academics and other criteria.

"The USBC is extremely pleased with the many talented candidates who submitted applications for the first Denny's All-American tournament," said Director of USBC High School and Collegiate, Jeanne Klescewski. "The decision making process wasn't easy, but we are confident the 29 student-athletes selected to compete represent the best in terms of bowling skill, academic achievement and citizenship. We look forward to an exceptional competition next month."

The elite field of 29 contains at least one representative from every varsity level state except New Mexico and Iowa. The 15 girls and 14 boys represent the best among student athletes, with a cumulative GPA of 3.67, and significant bowling experience. Twenty-three of the candidates have four years of competitive high school bowling; 21 have been team captain for at least one year; 14 are members of the National Honor Society and 10 have competed in the Junior Gold National Championship at least once. The full roster of participants is listed below.

"This is an exciting and rewarding project for Denny's," said Margaret Jenkins, Denny's Chief Marketing Officer. "We believe this tournament provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase the enormous talent that exists among high school bowlers."

"The high volume of applications we received and the impressive resumes of the 29 participants in the event prove the future of competitive bowling is very, very bright," said PBA Commissioner and CEO Fred Schreyer. "The PBA is thrilled to co-host this inaugural event and we look forward to watching the future stars of the Denny's PBA Tour compete on a national stage."

The Denny's All-American High School Championships is being held in conjunction with the Denny's PBA World Championship, March 24-25 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Immediately following the conclusion of the Denny's World Championship, the high school finalists will take to the lanes to compete for $10,000 in scholarships on a PBA oil pattern and in an arena setting before more than 2,000 spectators.

In a fun and entertaining twist, not only will the newly crowned girl and boy high school champions gain valuable professional level experience, they also will have a chance to team with professionals Kelly Kulick, the first female PBA exempt bowler, and Tony Reyes, a member of the Denny's PBA Sponsor Competition Team, for a one-game doubles match - girls against boys.

  The high school finals will be broadcast on ESPN on April 22.


              DENNY'S ALL-AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
                            Participant Roster

  BOYS

Alaska - Michael Lee, Eagle River (Eagle River High School); Arkansas - Greg Renick, Little Rock (Little Rock Catholic High School); Florida - Matt Foley, Boca Raton (West Boca Raton High School); Hawaii - Rich Kodama, Honolulu (Hawaii Baptist Academy); Illinois - Christopher David Ray, Granite City (Granite City High School); Louisiana - Brandon Anderson, Baton Rouge (St. Michael High School); Michigan - Jeremy Lapak, Sterling Heights (Adlai Stevenson High School); Mississippi - Jacob Gafford, Tupelo (Tupelo High School); Nevada -Brandon Allred, Las Vegas (Centennial High School); New Jersey - Bijan Niknam, Sparta (Sparta High School); New York - Jonathan Buckert, Rochester (Greece Athena High School); Ohio - Jacob Maciulewicz, West Chester (Archbishop Moeller High School); Pennsylvania - Travis Celmer, Wernersville (Conrad Weiser High School); Tennessee - Ben Anderson, Smyrna (Smyrna High School).

GIRLS

Alaska - Melissa Moxlow, Anchorage (Dimond High School); Arkansas - Breanna Clark, Siloam Springs (Siloam Springs High School); Florida - Samantha Hesley, Wellington (Wellington High School); Hawaii - Cara Michelle Smith, Waipahu (Sacred Hearts Academy); Illinois - Ellen Morrison, Winnebago (Winnebago High School); Kansas - Lyndsey Prather, Wichita (Heights High School); Louisiana - Ashley Scott, Lafayette (Lafayette High School); Michigan - Felicia Goll, St. Clair Shores (Regina High School); Nevada - Rebecca Caples, Sparks (Bishop Manogue High School); New Jersey - Amanda Small, Port Reading (Woodbridge High School); New York - Heather D'Errico, Rochester (Greece Arcadia High School); Ohio - Michelle Ostrowski, Cincinnati (Oak Hills High School); Pennsylvania - Kayla Stamm, Shillington (Governor Mifflin High School); Tennessee - Maia Zaykova, Mount Juliet (Donelson Christian Academy); Washington - Angela Brown, Cowiche (West Valley High School).

About Denny's

Denny's is America's largest full-service family restaurant chain. For more than 50 years, Denny's has been committed to providing guests with quality food, abundant value and a great dining atmosphere. From the award- winning D-Zone(R) menu to its famous Grand Slam(R) breakfasts, Denny's provides a variety of flavorful food and beverage choices for guests of all ages. For further information on Denny's, please visit our web site at http://www.dennys.com/.

About the PBA

The Professional Bowlers Association features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events. PBA membership reached an all-time high of 4,300 members during the 2005-06 Denny's PBA Tour season. Also in 2005-06 - the Tour's first with a title sponsor - ratings on PBA telecasts increased 12.5 percent among males ages 18-34. PBA sponsors include: Ace Hardware, Bayer, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Denny's, Discover(R) Card, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, GoRVing, H&R Block, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to http://www.pba.com/.

About the USBC

The United States Bowling Congress High School program actively offers guidance to all levels of high school bowling by providing rules, instructional opportunities, awards and industry resources to ensure the success of high school bowling nationwide. USBC High School is a resource for school administrators, high school state athletic associations, state proprietor associations and industry member organizations in the creation and maintenance of high school bowling programs. USBC officially launched Jan. 1, 2005, as an organization serving nearly three million adult and youth bowlers in the United States. It resulted from the merger of the American Bowling Congress, Women's International Bowling Congress, Young American Bowling Alliance and USA Bowling. For more information, visit http://www.bowl.com/