No.

Monday, February 07, 2000

No. 12 was the same as No. 1 as McCalvin, 19, became the first youth bowler in Ironton history to roll a perfect game as he turned the feat at Spare Time Recreation.

"I never thought I’d do it. I tried not to think about it so I wouldn’t get nervous, and I didn’t look at the score," said McCalvin.

Justice, who co-owns Spare Time along with Jeff Dillow, said there was no record of a previous youth bowler throwing a 300 game.

"Never at the old Sportsman or Tri-State Lanes did they have a youth bowl 300," said Justice. "There was a lot of pressure. Everyone in the league stopped to watch and that made it even harder."

McCalvin, who started bowling in 1994, and his sister, Helen "Sissy" McCalvin, are the only two original youth bowlers from the first youth league at Spare Time.

McCalvin’s 300 game was part of a 709 series, only the fourth 700 series for a youth bowler.

The streak of perfect frames began in the previous game when McCalvin rolled strikes in his final four attempts. He then rolled 12 straight for his perfect game, and then three more in his next game for a total of 19.

"I’ve never had more than eight or nine straight strikes. I usually get nervous after five or six," McCalvin said.

After a hit-and-miss approach to the game, McCalvin only recently became serious about bowling again. He hopes to bowl for Morehead State University next fall. Morehead was national runners-up last year.

"I’m going to bowl a lot more since I want to bowl in college," said McCalvin.

Justice hopes McCalvin can make the MSU team.

"If he’s serious about the Morehead thing, we’ll work out a deal to help him out," said Justice.

Justice added the high schools are planning to make bowling a competitive sport in the near future.

"Ninety percent of the kids who letter in bowling have never lettered in any sport," said Justice.