Antioch resident Toni-Ann Lupo, 15, recently achieved one of her greatest goals in the sport of bowling, earned a spot in the top  five youth female bowlers in the state of California. She placed fourth at the 2011 California USBC Association’s Pepsi USBC Youth Championships state finals.

To get to the state finals, Toni-Ann was required to place high in district finals, which she did back in March, when she became the California District No. 3 girls champion. The state finals were held at Classic Bowl in Daly City on the USBC Blue pattern, which features a greater oil length than the normal house shot and is known as the lowest-scoring pattern of the Red, White and Blue oil series. Toni-Ann, the three-time Northern California All-Star and two-time Junior Gold national finalist, shot 1,199 out of the six games of qualifying to make it to the match play finals.

The sophomore at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School bowled individual matches against college competitors three to four years older.

“I was very pleased to win district finals; then make it all the way to stepladder finals for my first time ever in this tournament,” she said. “I feel I bowled very well and I’m very happy where I stand at 15 years old.”

Carrying a 203 average, Toni-Ann will represent California as she travels to Las Vegas for the 2011 Junior Gold Championships in July.

– Contributed by Isabel Lupo