Nevada, New Jersey bowlers roll 900 series separated by 3 days

Chris Aker of Winnemucca, Nev., and Andrew Teall of Medford, N.J., recently became just the 14th and 15th bowlers, respectively, to roll United States Bowling Congress-approved 900 series.

The feats were accomplished within three days of each other and were the first since Rich Jerome Jr. of Baltimore had a 900 series on Dec. 22, 2008. The first approved 900 did not occur until Feb. 2, 1997 when Jeremy Sonnenfeld rolled three consecutive perfect games in Lincoln, Neb.

Aker, a 47-year-old left-hander, had 36 consecutive strikes Oct. 30 in the Friday Night Mixers League at Spare Time Bowling Center. Teall, a 24-year-old right-hander, matched that Nov. 2 in the Monday Invitational League at Medford Lanes.

"It was pretty cool, and doing it with my wife bowling on the team was pretty special," Aker said. "She usually gets nervous and can't watch, so she's only seen one or two of my previous 300 games. This time she watched pretty much every frame, which is nice."

Aker had seven 300 games and an 825 high series before his 900 series. Teall had five earlier perfect games and beat his previous best series of 813.

"I really wasn't thinking of a 900; all I was really focused on was getting a 200 to get 800," Teall said. "I'm still on Cloud 9. I didn't know what to do. People behind me were going pretty crazy but I didn't know how to act, whether I should jump up and down or fall to my knees."

Aker and Teall are the 13th and 14th bowlers to roll approved 900s, all on regular league lane conditions. There has never been a 900 on Sport Bowling lane conditions.

USBC Approved 900 Series
Jeremy Sonnenfeld, Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 2, 1997
Tony Roventini, Milwaukee, Nov. 9, 1998
Vince Wood, Moreno Valley, Calif., Sept. 29, 1999
Robby Portalatin, Jackson, Mich., Dec. 28, 2000
James Hylton, Salem, Ore., May 2, 2001
Jeff Campbell II, New Castle, Pa., June 12, 2004
Darin Pomije, New Prague, Minn., Dec. 9, 2004
Robert Mushtare, Fort Drum, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2005 and Feb. 19, 2006
Lonnie Billiter Jr., Fairfield, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2006
Mark Wukoman, Greenfield, Wis., April 22, 2006
P.J. Giesfeldt, Milwaukee, Dec. 23, 2007
Rich Jerome Jr., Baltimore, Dec. 22, 2008
Chris Aker, Winnemucca, Nev., Oct. 30, 2009
Andrew Teall, Medford, N.J., Nov. 2, 2009