NOTEBOOK

Finally on a roll: There may have been more than a few raised eyebrows around the South Bay Bowling Center in Redondo Beach Saturday when reigning national champion Julie Gardner finished 14th out of 16 bowlers in the singles competition.

Gardner, however, wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“When it comes to the first day of a tournament, I can almost guarantee that I won’t bowl very good,” said the 23-year-old from Huntington Beach. “Fourteen out of 16? Now that’s bad. Let’s just say I had some serious problems with my game.”

Gardner, who won the 1990 Team USA National Finals, found her comfort zone Sunday, however, and teamed with Darlene Weekly of Gilbert, Ariz., to win a silver medal in doubles.

Monday, Gardner and Steve Kloempken, of Las Vegas, teamed to win a silver medal in mixed doubles. They finished with 4,879, 78 pins behind gold-medal winners Ralph Solan of St. Louis and Maureen Webb of North Andover, Mass.

Gardner, a graduate of Edison High School, is the juniors director at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, a position she has held since she was 16.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I never really thought of myself as being especially good with kids or anything,” she said. “I’m not really that patient of a person.

“But I’ve grown into it and now I get a lot of satisfaction from watching the kids progress and being a part of it. It’s a rewarding experience.”