Nikki Lunsford led the record performance with a 717 series, and was joined by Michelle Sterner (702), three-time Women's Championships titlist Johnson (690), 2007 Classic Division doubles champion Sue Jeziorski (665) and Sue Nawojski (650).

As the strikes continued to fill the scoreboards at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center, Bowlers Choice Pro Shop's crossing team, Great Balls of Fire of Peekskill, N.Y., kept pace to finish with the second highest team score in the event's history with 3,351. Kay Roush led the effort with a 730 series, and was joined by Aumi Guerra (728), Helen Waite (655), Shiela Allen (646) and Sandra Maresca (592).

The pair to the left of Bowlers Choice Pro Shop and Great Balls of Fire featured BowlersMAP of Grand Prairie, Texas, which ended with the fourth highest score in tournament history at 3,339.

Five-time Women's Championships titlist and USBC Hall of Famer Leanne Hulsenberg led the squad with a 746 total, and competed alongside Team USA member Shannon Pluhowsky (719), USBC Hall of Famer Kim Terrell-Kearney (699), Women's Championships titlist Sandra Terrell (614) and Laura Moriarty (561).

After four second places at the Women's Championships over the years, the members of Bowlers Choice Pro Shop saw all of their hard work on and off the lanes result in a record-breaking performance.

"I'm still in disbelief," said Jeziorski, who bowls regularly at AMF Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, N.Y. "We've been working for this for 15 years, so to post the highest score in tournament history is pretty exciting."

Bowlers Choice Pro Shop and Great Balls of Fire nearly found themselves deadlocked after the second game, but the teams appreciated the competition for the top spot and applauded each others efforts as they made their way toward history.

"After the second game, we were pretty much even," Jeziorski said. "We had given some pins away, but couldn't go back. We knew we had to go out and shoot a big game. We bowled with a great crossing team, though. We were rooting for each other, not against. There was camaraderie and support for everyone."

Jeziorski credited their familiarity as the key asset to their success. Four of the five members of Bowlers Choice Pro Shop, along with Waite and Allen, had just finished bowling their state tournament a week prior to competing at the Women's Championships.

With their name in the record books, the members of Bowlers Choice Pro Shop can only wait and hope their score holds on until the tournament concludes on July 4.

"All we can do now is hope that no one beats us," Jeziorski said. "It's an honor to put our names alongside some of the greatest women bowlers in the history of the sport."

MINNESOTA BOWLER BREAKS ALL-EVENTS RECORD AT USBC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

After a disappointing performance at the United States Bowling Congress Masters in February, Matt McNiel of Chanhassen, Minn., worked hard to make sure he was prepared for his return to the National Bowling Stadium for the 2010 USBC Open Championships.

The 24-year-old left-hander was determined and focused this weekend and blistered the tournament lanes for a 2,326 all-events effort Sunday, the highest nine-game total in 107 years of USBC Open Championships competition.

McNiel averaged more than eight strikes per game and recorded 88 clean frames on the way to 806 in singles, 780 in team and 740 in doubles to break the all-events record of 2,321 set by Ron Vokes of Racine, Wis., at the 2009 tournament in Las Vegas. John Bauerle Jr. of Indianapolis previously held the lead at this year's event with 2,225, which he shot Saturday afternoon.

"I bowled terrible at the Masters and worked immediately after with (USBC Silver coach) Mike Jasnau at Lane 81, who gave me a few small, core things to work on," said McNiel, who finished 132nd out of 268 competitors at the Masters. "For the last three months, I have been trying to undo 20 years of bowling how I was, and it's not all there yet, but it's coming along. I really haven't bowled well up until this point. I talked with Mike two minutes before the team event. He gave me another small pointer, and I went out and had 780. It just clicked. It all fell into place."

McNiel, who made his fourth USBC Open Championships appearance, also found success at the Stadium in his tournament debut in 2007 when he shot 782 and finished 10th in Regular Singles. He has averaged 259 for his last 12 Open Championships games in Reno, and this year's singles effort, which included the sixth 299 of the year, puts him second behind Terrence Syring of Bay City, Mich., who leads with 833.

"The biggest thing I was focusing on was not winning anything or placing, but coming out here and making good shots and being happy with myself," McNiel said. "I wanted to show myself that the work I was putting in was paying off. When I was packing up for the tournament, I said, 'the Masters was the Masters,' and that was the old Matt. We've been working long and hard almost every day for the last three months working on my arm swing and good fundamentals. All I came out here to do was to make good shots. I know I can score in this building. It's about being confident and knowing you can make a good shot."