Local bowlers special in state

Susan Turner will be dressed a little differently today when she goes to work at her Cleveland, Tenn., area Bi-Lo grocery.

"I'm going to wear my medals to show my co-workers," the 42-year-old Ooltewah resident said of the Special Olympics gold and silver medals she won in Monday's state tournament competition at Holiday Bowl Brainerd.

"Bowling's my all-time favorite sport, and I want to share this with them."

Turner, Jonathan Davis, Leslie Burnett and Chris White shared team gold for Pin Pals, which represented Chattanooga's Area 4 region in the adult competition along with Blazing Bowlers, who finished second.

More than 200 bowlers from Tennessee's Middle, East and South regions for Special Olympics converged on Holiday Bowl at 8:30 a.m. for the eight-hour competition for bowlers ages 8 through 70.

"We had 17 different areas represented," said Meg Takahashi, the competition director for Special Olympics of Tennessee. "We had singles, doubles and teams, and it was just an awesome tournament. The scores were phenomenal and Holiday Bowl was just great to us. Really a top-notch tournament."

The 22-year-old Davis has been a top-notch bowler since he first participated in Special Olympics competition six years ago. He won two gold medals at the national competition in Ames, Iowa, in 2006. He's won three straight Area Four competitions, taking home a large trophy from each.

In fact, Davis has won so many medals and trophies alternating his green 15-pound bowling ball with a red and blue marble one of the same weight that he "can't count them all."

But that doesn't mean he wants to stop collecting new hardware any time soon.

"I like a challenge," he said.

So does Turner, who'll show the medals she won using her 10-pound magenta ball with the "ST" initials on it to her classmates at the Trousdale School in Cleveland after her Bi-Lo shift ends.

"Susan's been bowling for 23 years," said her mother, Judy. "This was just a wonderful experience."

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com

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