If you're looking to cheer on a Treasure Coast team to a state title, it's time to charter a bus to Timber Creek High School in Orlando for the third annual bowling state championships in mid-November.

Fort Pierce Westwood and Port St. Lucie lead area boys teams, and Lincoln Park Academy and St. Lucie West Centennial spearhead the girls. Area bowlers are putting up hard-to-match scores.

Westwood has three bowlers in the area's top 10. Chris Velardo averaged 200.7 as of last Friday, while brother Jake Velardo averages 200.4, and Randy Neal averages 198.3.

"For some reason," said Westwood bowling coach Lori Fry, "in this area, we seem to have a lot of interest in bowling. I just think these kids have been bowling since they were little. Their parents are all bowlers, and we get a lot of support from the houses in the area."

Another area bowler who blows away competition with an average of 225.6 is Port St. Lucie High School's Jason Harrison. Teammate Robert Barry averages 201.7.

For the girls, St. Lucie West Centennial features Amanda Stinehart and April L'Heureux with averages of 197.8 and 190.6 respectively. Like Westwood, LPA has three girls in the area's top 10.

Last year's boys winner, Jesse Thrash of Felix Varela High School, averaged just eight-tenths of a point higher for his 12 rounds than Harrison's average for the entire year. If Harrison bowls his best, he could be looking at a state title, and Chris Velardo, last year's third-place winner, knows how to lift his game for states. Velardo averaged 217.9 through 12 rounds at state last year. Harrison placed fifth last year at states, and Chris Velardo was 11th.

St. Lucie County will experience an influx of the state's best golfers at two of its courses next Tuesday and Wednesday. The state's 1A girls will play at The Saints Course, and the state's 1A boys will play at Fairwinds.

The county, which also is host to the 2A boys and girls at Martin County's Hammock Creek and Indian River's Pointe West respectively, needs nearly 100 volunteers to run the tournaments. Morgan Pressel, this year's U.S. women's golf amateur winner and runner-up at the women's U.S. Open, will play in the 1A competition for St. Andrew's School.

St. Lucie County's PGA Golf Club held the majority of the tournaments from 2000-2004 but did not offer its courses this year because the Florida High School Athletic Association moved the event up a week, causing a grounds maintenance conflict for the PGA's elite courses.

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