Stettler standout youth bowler Nicole Philpot finished fourth at the provincial youth bowling championships for the second successive year.
Representing both Stettler and Heartland Bowl, she placed just out of medal contention at the singles provincial championships in St. Albert on March 7 under the Alberta 5-Pin Bowlers Association.
A little better luck and she would have come home with a medal.
“I thought I played well, but I was hitting a lot of headpins and corner pins,” said Philpot, age 12, who competed in junior girls play against eight other bowlers aged 11 to 14 and came up shy with her total score over five games.
“I was about 30 points away from the winner for third place.”
Although she was confident to win a medal, she and her mother Darlene were still proud of her effort.
“She met with a lot of adversity but she played very well,” said mother Darlene Philpot.
“Nicole ended up with 11 headpins and 21 corners over five games.”
Currently ranked third in Alberta for her age group and in the top 10 in Canada, she was in second place for much of the way before she hit many headpins and corners, said her mother.
All was not lost for her that weekend after she won $550 at a bowling tournament at Heartland Bowl two nights before provincials.
That will add to her scholarship funding with Youth Bowling Canada where she has already earned $1,000 in the past three years.
Upcoming, Philpot will compete next at the scholarship tournament in Edmonton over the long holiday weekend July 30 to Aug. 1.