Bowler Wins Tournament and $4,000

Four days, 43 games and 9,521 pins after she arrived in Jackson, Mich., Robin Romeo of Van Nuys won the $20,000 Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour Jackson Classic on Wednesday.

Her fourth tournament title in eight years on the tour brought her $4,000.

“This feels great because I haven’t won in such a long time,” said Romeo, whose last first-place victories were in Tempe, Ariz., and Houston in 1982. “I have been trying really hard, but I couldn’t get into the final game. I led after 42 games, so I had the confidence to go out and bowl one game and win.”

At Airport Lanes in Jackson, Romeo defeated Lorrie Nichols of Algonquin, Ill., 215-204. After Nichols missed a single-pin spare in the third frame, Romeo bowled three straight strikes to push herself into the lead.

Romeo, ranked No. 3 in the LPBT 1986 point standings, was the No. 1 qualifier going into Wednesday’s tournament. By losing a match Tuesday to Nichols, Jeanne Maiden of Solon, Ohio, lost her bid to win three straight LPBT titles.

Nichols picked up $2,000 for second and Maiden received $1,000 for third. Nikki Gianulias of Vallejo won $850 for fifth place.

Romeo, 29, is a native of New York who has lived in Van Nuys for eight years. When she isn’t on the tour, which begins in February and ends in November, she is a bowling instructor at Canoga Park Bowl.

Romeo has competed on the tour for the last eight years but missed six months of the 1983 season with a wrist injury.

“I feel pretty good right now,” said Romeo from her hotel in Jackson. “So, I’m just going to go out in the Rochester tournament and try to do my best. It would be nice to get another win under my belt.”