Via earns his way onto Junior Team USA

Fifth place finish in Las Vegas secured his spot.

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:03 PM Sunday, January 8, 2012

For the second straight year, Kenton Ridge High School graduate and Notre Dame College bowler Chris Via has earned a spot on the United States Bowling Congress Junior Team USA.

Via earned an automatic berth by finishing fifth overall at the 2012 USBC Team Trials in Las Vegas last week. He finished second in the junior standings with a four-day, 28-game total of 6,205 pins.

“I was really excited,” Via said. “Once you get that feeling of being on the team, you don’t want to let it go.”

On Friday, Via said they bowled the toughest pattern of the week.

“They wanted to see who really had it,” Via said. “I struggled through most of the day, but the last two games I bowled really well and made a big move.”

Via earned a spot on the 2011 Junior Team USA team, finishing third at the Junior Gold in Indianapolis in 2010.

Via, a sophomore at Notre Dame College, will resume college bowling next weekend. According to CollegeBowling.com, he’s got the 11th best average in the nation at 213.4 pins per game.

Last April, Via trained with Junior Team USA in Arlington, but wasn’t selected for any tournaments. He’s hoping that’s not the case in 2012.

“I’m just going to go to the training camp and really work hard,” Via said. “Hopefilly this year they see my improvement and pick me for some tournaments.”

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