Chapman Blazes a Trail in Amateur : Bowling: Former football player from Landover, Md., becomes first black to win U.S. championship.

Anthony Chapman proved to himself and to his friends this week that he is one of the best bowlers in the country.

Before coming here, he said, he frequently questioned his ability, and his confidence wavered. He also worried about how he would handle the pressure from his peers in his bid to become the first black to win the U.S. National Amateur Championships.

“A lot of people from my area were expecting me to do well,” said Chapman, 21, of Landover, Md. “The leagues that I bowl in at home are heavily populated with blacks. Part of the pressure I was feeling was for blacks.”

Chapman said he was relaxed most of the week. But when he reached Saturday’s stepladder finals at Brunswick Premier Lanes as the fourth and final qualifier, anxiety struck.

At first, the powerful shots the 5-foot-11, 240-pound former football player was hurling rocketed off-course. His hooks often ran high and away from the pocket, but the pins kept flying and his opponents--one by one--wilted under the lights of television cameras.

In three games, Chapman left one open frame--his first. He slipped past Sam Lantto of Maple Grove, Minn., 198-190, picked up steam against David Garber of Bedford, Tex., 219-159, and held off a late surge by Vince Biondo of Hoffman Estates, Ill., 216-207, to make history.

Chapman, a computer science major at Maryland who was called a sissy by his old high school buddies for quitting football and baseball, stood in disbelief.

“There are a lot of black bowlers in this country, but not that many on the PBA Tour,” he said, beaming. “I think there may be a lot of good black players out there who feel they can’t compete on a national level.

“They don’t have a black hero in bowling.”

Only one black, George Branham III, has won a PBA event.

By making the finals, Chapman already fulfilled his dream of becoming the only black male in history to make Team USA, a six-player squad that plays internationally and hopes to be included in the 1996 Olympics. Kim Terrell of Daly City was the first black to make Team USA when she earned a berth on the women’s team in 1988.

When Chapman had a shot at the championship, the words of Magic Gray started ringing in his head.

“Represent us well, Anthony,” Gray, a PBA pro from Landover, told Chapman before he left.

“He was one of my idols when I was young,” Chapman said of Gray. “I used to watch him play. Once I became an adult, I started bowling in PBA regionals and he took me under his wing.”

Chapman, who averaged 205.2 after 48 match-play games, looked out of sync during warmups. He left the 10-pin standing in the first frame. Three frames later, he was 18 pins down and facing a short afternoon. But Lantto gave him the openings he needed by missing the five-pin in the fifth frame and leaving two standing on a 6-7-10 split in the ninth.

In the final, Chapman led Biondo--who finished second in consecutive years--by 41 pins after the seventh frame. But after Biondo came back with five strikes in a row, Chapman needed a spare in the 10th to avoid a one-pin defeat. He hit the spare, then got nine more on his final ball to win.

“A lot of my friends . . . they’re doing nothing,” Chapman said. “But they said I was a wimp. ‘There’s no blacks in bowling. There’s no money in bowling.’

“I just did my bowling and kept quiet. I don’t talk a lot of trash. There’s some people back home that still don’t think I’m that good a bowler. I feel good.

“This represents a change in the future for me. I many not be the best bowler in the world, but it shows I can compete.”

In the women’s final, Joey Simpson, 20, a bookkeeper from Lexington, Ky., said she surprised herself.

Simpson beat Diana Williams of Raymond, Wash., 207-157. Williams had previously beaten Stacy Robards of Carmichael, 179-167, and Tammy Turner of West Palm Beach, Fla., 192-160.

“I surprised myself by hitting the shots that I did and by staying cool all week,” Simpson said. “I also had some luck. I just wanted to make the top 24, then the top 16. Things happened from there.”

Simpson’s victory against Williams was decided early, as she had two strikes and a spare in her first three frames, while Williams left three pins standing, twice leaving open frames.