Chicagoan Harris taking aim at car in women’s finals

Deborah Harris of Chicago hopes to go strong Sunday in the women’s finals of Beat the Champions.

‘‘I started work part-time at FedEx as a package handler [in October], and lifting 45- to 70-pound boxes must have helped my arms get stronger,’’ said Harris, a retired sales manager.

The women’s finals for the 55th BTC begin at noon at Lan-Oak Lanes in Lansing.

‘‘I think [the lifting] gives me more staying power,’’ Harris said. ‘‘Before, I was a little bit slow. Before, I had a lazy ball. Now, it has snap.’’

Harris advanced out of one of the storied leagues in the Chicago area, the Southside Stenos at AMF Forest Lanes. She enters BTC every year and reached the finals for the first time.

BTC, co-sponsored by the SunTimes and the Chicagoland Bowling Proprietors Association, has raised more than $2.7 million from more than 5.7 million entries in its first 54 years.

Harris said she hasn’t bowled at Lan-Oak and doesn’t plan to practice there beforehand.

‘‘I think the day of the finals, the pattern will change,’’ she said. ‘‘Plus, you move across four lanes.’’

In the finals, bowlers bowl four games and jump a pair of lanes after each game. In BTC, bowlers who average less than 210 receive 90 percent of the difference as handicap.

‘‘I am going for the car; I want me a new car,’’ said Harris, who has a 135 average and will receive 270 pins of handicap. ‘‘I will take anything else, but I really want the car.’’

All 32 finalists will receive prizes. The top prize for the women and the men (next Sunday at Elk Grove Bowl) is a Ford Focus from the Chicagoland Ford Dealers.

‘‘I am just excited to participate,’’ Harris said. ‘‘I am telling all my family and friends. Then I was thinking maybe I will be nervous. But bowling is fun. And that is what I do it for.’’

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