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Hernando Today

Ellison Joins Local 300 Club

BOWLING

Staff photo by BOB EAST III

Sring Hill's Nancy Ellison recently became the fourth female in Hernando County history to roll a 300 game.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: February 25, 2009

By the time any Hernando County female ever shot a 300 game, Nancy Ellison had already done it three times, twice 10 years earlier.
While living in Orange County, New York, Ellison rolled two perfect games in 1984, on Sept. 21 and Oct. 5. Her third one came nearly 10 years later, on July 3, 1994.
But since then, she endured a 300 drought of nearly 14 years. In that time she has relocated to Spring Hill, where she has lived the past 2 1/2 years.
On Monday, Feb. 2 in the Coca-Cola Classic at Mariner Lanes, number four finally arrived. Ellison posted a 300 in her first game that night, part of a 740 series.
"Everything went right," Ellison said. "That's all I can say. I just kept striking. I had one lucky strike, that's it.
"…I just couldn't believe it. Another 300 and that's unusual. I was just amazed."

Making history

Ellison became just the fourth woman to ever roll a 300 in Hernando County, and the first in eight years.
Pat Brennan and Anita Hearl were the first two to do it, exactly a month apart in 1995 at Mariner Lanes. As members of the Coca-Cola Classic, both were in the building for Ellison's perfecto.
Edie Jo Norman, a Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) Hall of Famer who formerly owned Mariner Lanes, notched a 300 in her own house on June 19, 2000.
Since then no female had managed to pull off the feat on a pair of county lanes, though the amount of women carrying averages around 200 has increased.
Ellison, averaging 201 coming into that night, finally added a new name to the list.
"That means a lot," Ellison said. "When I bowled my first 300, I was the first one in the house and in the women's association to do it."
Ellison estimated that she has bowled competitively for at least 35 years, following her parents into the sport. Likewise her children and now grandchildren have picked it up.
For the past 15 years, she said her average has usually sat somewhere between 190-200. In her last season in New York (2005-06), she had a high average of 189.
That boosted to 196 when she joined the Friday Early Mariners the following season. In 2007-08 she averaged 206 in the Coca-Cola Classic and 198 in the Friday Mariner Mariners, then a personal best of 208 in 30 games of the Friday Summer Combo.
She bowls in the anchor position of her team's lineup in the ultra-competitive Coca-Cola Classic, as well as the Friday Early Mariners, not backing down in the male-dominated sport.
"I love to compete with the men," Ellison said. "It just makes me bowl better. I've been competing with men for quite a few years. I did it in New York quite a bit."
Recalling her time in New York, Ellison laughed at how some male competitors would intentionally skip bowling to avoid taking her on. She admitted striking such fear actually made her feel good.
"It seems down here there's better respect given," Ellison said.
When Ellison bowled her 300 a few weeks ago, she followed with a 249 and had thoughts of her first 800 series. She finished with a respectable 191 but still felt she ran out of steam.
"I was hitting my mark every frame," Ellison said. "I was doing good. But I got tired that last game. One of my goals is to bowl an 800. I was thinking too much about it. I think that was my problem.
"That's (800) big, that's my goal. That's what I want do. I'd just be happy I did my goal. Not too many women have bowled an 800."

BY THE NUMBERS: HERNANDO COUNTY FEMALE 300 GAMES
Name                                      Date                        House
Pat Brennan (Overly)           02/06/95                 Mariner
Anita Hearl                            03/06/95                 Mariner
Edie Jo Norman                    06/19/00                 Mariner
Nancy Ellison                       02/02/09                 Mariner

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at 352-544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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