One weekend, two tournaments:
After countless weeks of pleading “please, let me bowl” during her parents’ Saturday night league, a young Lisa Graham had finally gotten her wish.
Trying to manage a 16-pound ball was challenging, but Graham was determined. A two-handed roll from between her legs was the best she could do and her best was good enough — it was a strike. The little girl from West Virginia was hooked on bowling.
In the four decades that followed, Graham has missed only a single season on the lanes and has built a resume that includes a national collegiate title and six city championships. Graham’s accomplishments recently earned her induction into the Greater Dayton United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame for Superior Performance along with Tim Hartley, Mike Lamb, Jim Hilligas Jr. and Lorie Webster.
Graham has five 300 games, an 812 high series and a 230 high average en route to her induction. She started winning youth titles in the early 1980s and hasn’t looked back. She competed on Morehead State University’s first women’s national collegiate championship team in 1989.
In the two decades since Graham, 47, moved to the Miami Valley, she has won six city and one state title. She has been named to the All City team four times, earning bowler of the year status in 1999.
The Bronze Level certified coach has also served as an assistant coach at Centerville High School.
“I really love the sport of bowling and that’s one way I can give back,” she said.
While a hall of fame induction can mark the pinnacle of one’s career, Graham shows no signs of slowing down.
“I would love to win a national USBC title,” she said, smiling.
She has been close, finishing second in both the doubles and team events.
And as much as she loves her time on the lanes, she is also looking forward to watching daughters Callie, 17, and Payton, 14, bowl this year for the Elks.
An estimated 250 young bowlers will compete for thousands of scholarship dollars when Beaver-Vu Bowl hosts the Midwest USA Eliminator Tournament (Sept. 5) and the JTBA Wright State Raider Youth Classic (Sept. 6) over Labor Day weekend. For more information, visit daytonbowling.com or call Beaver-Vu Bowl at 426-6771.