John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Fla., shot 1,365 over six games to win the singles gold medal, while a late charge from Derek Eoff of Greenfield, Wis., earned him the bronze medal with 1,352.

Their performances highlighted a day that saw Team USA place four individuals in the top 10 at Metro Bowl.

Janawicz, playing up the No. 5 board with his Columbia 300 Stingray urethane ball, dissected the short oil pattern in the morning session. He started strong – striking on his first four shots – and began with 237 and 235 games.

"I threw some bad shots early, but I got away with them. That kind of loosened me up a little bit," said Janawicz, who won the 2004 American Bowling Congress Championships Tournament singles and all-events titles. "I was just trying to keep ahead of the moves. Throwing a urethane ball made it a lot easier going from pair to pair."

After posting his only sub-200 game (195) in Game 3, Janawicz quickly rebounded with a 249 in the fourth game. He grabbed the lead from Canada's Jean-Sebastien Lessard in Game 5 with a 236, while Lessard shot 173 on the same pair as Janawicz.

Janawicz's 213 in the final game held off a late charge from Mexico's Enrique Gutierrez, who shot 956 over his last four games. Gutierrez claimed the silver medal with 1,357.

Eoff, who struggled with the short pattern during practice in Houston and Guatemala, came on strong at the end of the evening session with a pair of 234s in Games 4 and 5 to vault into medal contention. He finished with a 236 on the strength of four late strikes to overtake Lessard for the bronze.

“Fortunately, we drilled a ball (Storm Jolt Particle) in Houston that gave me a better look,” said Eoff, who serves as a USBC Sport Bowling Coordinator and was a member of the inaugural Junior Team USA in 1999. “Once I got far enough right, it opened up the lane enough for me where I could stay loose and make pretty good shots.

“This feels unbelievable. Winning the bronze medal in my first event is icing on the cake.”

Rhino Page of Fresno, Calif., finished fifth with 1,300, while David O’Sullivan of Orlando, Fla., placed 10th at 1,260. David Haynes of Las Vegas and Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio, struggled in the low-scoring afternoon session – finishing 41st and 63rd, respectively.

Competition continues at 9 a.m. local time Tuesday (11 a.m. EDT) with the six-game doubles event. Janawicz and Page team up and will compete in the morning session, while Eoff and O’Sullivan bowl in the afternoon session and Hoffman and Haynes in the evening.

The Men’s American Zone Championships, which will conclude June 1, features 18 countries and consists of six disciplines (singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters). The event is in Guatemala for the first time since 1966.

Since the American Zone Championships were first held in 1961, the United States now has won 162 medals between the men and women. The next best showing is from Mexico, which has 89 medals in that time.

Beginning in 2007, the American Zone Championships moved from a quadrennial event featuring both men and women to a biennial event, with separate Women’s American Zone Championships and Men’s American Zone Championships alternating each year. The first Women’s American Zone Championships is scheduled to be held in Chile in 2008.

Visit the Team USA section of bowl.com for complete coverage of the Men’s American Zone Championships, including stories, photos, player Web logs and results.

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Bowl with US

2007 MEN’S AMERICAN ZONE CHAMPIONSHIPS

(at Metro Bowl, Guatemala City, Guatemala)

Monday’s Results

SINGLES
(6 games)
Top 20
1. John Janawicz, United States, 1,365; 2. Enrique Gutierrez, Mexico, 1,357; 3. Derek Eoff, United States, 1,352; 4. Jean-Sebastien Lessard, Canada, 1,330; 5. Rhino Page, United States, 1,300; 6. Marcio Vieira, Brazil, 1,297; 7. Rodrigo Hermes, Brazil, 1,289; 8. Darren Klassen, Canada, 1,278; 9. Daniel Murta, Brazil, 1,265; 10. David O’Sullivan, United States, 1,260.
11. Arturo Hernandez, Venezuela, 1,232; 12. Manino Fernandez, Dominican Republic, 1,225; 13. Marcos Baeza, Mexico, 1,223; 14. Gonzalo Gonzalez, Venezuela, 1,219; 15. David Maycock, Bermuda, 1,213; 16. Luis Olivo, Venezuela, 1,208; 17. Jaime Guerrero, Venezuela, 1,203; 18. Joe Ciach, Canada, 1,198; 19. Marco Martinez, Mexico, 1,197; 20. Juan Carlos Morales, Guatemala, 1,196.

Other Team USA results
41. David Haynes, 1,122; 63. Bill Hoffman, 1,078.

For complete results, visit www.bowl.com.