Three area bowlers were recently inducted into the Newark United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Hall of Fame. The honorees are Mike Byers, Trent Speer and Donna Benge.
Byers began bowling at 8 years old in the Junior League at Park Lanes in Heath. Now in his 50s, he bowls in two area leagues. His current average is 230, and he has bowled 25 perfect 300 games and one 299. His first 300 game was rolled in 2002, and he narrowly missed more perfect games as he has five games in which he threw 11 strikes in a row. He has also bowled seven 800 series, including a high of 841.
A former vice president of the Newark USBC, Byers bowls in leagues at Park Lanes in Heath and Redskin Lanes in Utica. He has participated in many local, state and national tournaments. According to his fans, Byers is known for his sportsmanship on and off the lanes. He was inducted under the Newark USBC Hall of Fame’s Superior Performance category.
Also recognized for Superior Performance is Trent Speer, who comes from a bowling family that included his parents, an uncle and two brothers. The Mount Vernon native has honored lineage as his late father, Tom, and older brother Matt are previous inductees of the Newark USBC Hall of Fame.
Speer, 47, and his twin brother, Travis, began bowling at age 10. He recently completed bowling in the Monday 4X4 League at Redskin Lanes in Utica, finishing with a 236 average. That ranks him third behind Bob Jones, a Hall of Fame bowler with a 241 average, and Roger L. Adams, who finished with a 239 average. In addition to his high average, Speer has had 10 lifetime 800 series, six of them coming at Redskin Lanes, with his high three-game series hitting 849. He currently holds the association’s high series record of 1,149 in a four-game set, in which he pulled off a rare hat trick of three consecutive 300 games. His current average is 230.
Donna Benge was inducted into the Hall of Fame under the category of Meritorious Service. Benge has been bowling for more than 40 years and is employed at Park Lanes Bowling Center in Heath, where she bowls and also oversees tracking of all of the center’s leagues and records bowler’s averages, total pins, team standings and team schedules.
She has already served several years as president of the Newark USBC Association’s board of directors and was active for 25 years. She served as vice president and president of the former Newark Women’s Bowling Association and as a league secretary. At 75, she is still going strong, as she was very instrumental in reestablishing leagues at Park Lanes following the pandemic. Benge has been at the front line every time the local bowling community has needed her.
The inductions took place May 6 at the Newark American Legion Post 85 Hall in front of 60 attendees, including 24 current Hall of Fame members. The Newark USBC Bowling Hall of Fame began in 1996 and now has 90 members.
In addition, local bowler Chris Mooney was recognized for winning the second annual Newark USBC Hall of Fame Bowling Tournament, which took place a week earlier with 91 bowlers participating.
