Stephanie Hong is a Junior at Buena Park High School and has received countless academic honors, including being in the top 25 Distinguished Scholars 2 years in a row. She is very active in the Air Force Jr ROTC and serves in leadership positions in various school clubs. She is also an accomplished bowler, despite only picking the sport up in 2018 and posting a 137 average in that first year. She rapidly improved and now averages in the 180’s and has had several top 5 finishes in local and state events Stephanie also volunteers in her community by tutoring low-income students. She plans to either be come a nurse or an Aerospace Engineer.
Award was presented at the CUSBC Awards Dinner on June 10, 2023 at Hotel Piccadilly in Fresno.
EMMA SHANER SELECTED AS 2023 STAR OF TOMORROW WINNER
EMMA SHANER is a senior at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita CA. She has a GPA of 4.14 and will be attending college in Missouri in the fall where she will major in Criminal Justice. Her teachers describe her as a quiet leader, unassuming, respectful and humble. She leads by example in the classroom and on campus. On the lanes, Emma is a fierce competitor, carrying 190 average over the last few years. She has a high game of 279 and high series of 713 and has won several local events. It is our honor to name Emma Shaner as the 2023 California USBC star of tomorrow.
Emma also won the 2023 Braheme Family Memorial Scholarship for $1,000. Awards were presented at the CUSBC Awards Dinner on June 10, 2023 at Hotel Piccadilly in Fresno.
Mike McGrath from Petaluma was nominated for this induction by his good friend, Barry Asher. Mike grew up at Golden Gate Lanes in El Cerrito (East Bay) and started his professional bowling career at age 19 winning his first event in 1965.
Mike won back-to-back PBA National Championships in 1969 and 1970 when he was the tour’s leading money winner. McGrath finished his career with 10 tour titles, $238,305 in career earnings and the legacy of being one of the top left-handers in the PBA. McGrath is a member of the PBA Hall of Fame (1988), the USBC Hall of Fame (1993) and this year, a member of the California USBC Hall of Fame posthumously. We sadly lost Mike in 2017 at the age of 71. He will be honored posthumously by his good friend Barry Asher, who is also being inducted this year.
Barry Asher is bowling lifer. He has been inducted into 8 Halls of Fame, has 10 National PBA titles, 4 USBC Open Championship titles and owns a pro shop inside Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley.
What some of you may not know are the cool things that Barry has done because he IS a bowling lifer. His father was a prop man on the set of Lassie that ran back in the 50’s to 70’s so Barry visited the set often. Barry also bowled league with the infamous Roy Rogers at Reseda Bowl and the coolest thing is that Barry was the technical adviser for the movie, the “Big Lebowski”. For 10 days he was on set making sure that the bowling scenes were authentic. Barry was also was invited to Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame induction. I’m sure they all celebrated later in Barry’s bowling pin shaped swimming pool. Congratulations Barry! California is so proud to honor you.
Bill Bunetta has a long history with bowling starting in the 1960s. He was intrigued with instruction, development and coaching of many PBA members on the tour and became known as the “Professor”. Many of those that he helped became PBA Hall of Famers. Bill also implemented many rules and regulations that are still used today on the PBA tour including the top 5 stepladder finals format. Continue reading 2023 HOF SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE RECIPIENT – BUNETTA→
Bob started at age 15 working for the Pacific Bowler newspaper in Orange County. He also spent several years as Editor of the California Bowling News based in Burbank. During more than a decade covering the bowlers and bowling events of California, Bob wrote with style and grace about everything from outstanding league accomplishments to local sweeper results to pro tournaments. Among his most-remembered feature stories were several about Glenn Allison’s 900 series (at La Habra “300” Bowl in 1982), one about Pete McCordic’s televised 300 game (at Gable House Bowl in Torrance in 1987) and one about how local bowlers and other residents prevented Midtown Bowl in Los Angeles from being burned down during the so-called “Rodney King riots” in 1992.