JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Capt. Danielle Crowder and Staff Sgt. James McTaggart struck gold at the Armed Forces Bowling Championship May 5-7 in Camp Pendleton, California.
Crowder, area defense counsel with the Air Force Legal Operations Agency at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, won the women’s division title over U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Melanie Griffith by 37 pins (3,190-3,153). McTaggart, an avionics specialist with the 432nd Maintenance Squadron at Creech AFB, Nevada, beat teammate Tech. Sgt. Chuck Kropog, a service contract supervisor with the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron at Yokota AB, Japan, 3,529-3,503.
Crowder also helped the Air Force women defend their Armed Forces title by beating Navy 16,803-16,659. The Navy men edged the Air Force 18,809-18,654. The Air Force also swept the mixed doubles challenge, led by Kropog and Tech. Sgt. Natasha Sanchez of the 821st Contingency Response Squadron at Travis AFB, California.
In the King and Queen competition, which pits the men’s and women’s winner, Crowder beat McTaggart 198-181.
“To bring home as many medals as we did was fantastic,” said Mike Freund, All-Air Force bowling coach. “We had an amazing team on both the men’s and women’s side, and they bowled like a world-class team. To be able to say I was a part of that is just an unbelievable feeling, and I was honored to be given the opportunity to coach the Air Force team. The Airmen displayed remarkable readiness and resilience throughout the tournament,” Freund said, “but none more so than McTaggart and Crowder.”
McTaggart said he struggled during tryouts before making his first All-Air Force bowling team, but during singles competition, McTaggart converted a 7-10 split and a 4-6-7-10 split, regarded as the two most difficult shots in bowling. Had McTaggart not converted those splits, he would’ve finished second.
“The tournament was definitely a grind because you start out with 24 games just to make the team,” McTaggart said. “It really tested your mental game because if you have a bad game or two, you still have to stay focused and not let it affect you. I work hard at perfecting my game, especially (converting) spares, which were key to winning the tournament,” he added. “The oil patterns were really challenging during competition, which really helped me out because I have worked hard on bowling well on tough patterns.”
Crowder took a two-year break from competitive bowling after giving birth to her son. She practiced by bowling once a week a few months before the tournament.
“I felt decently ready by the time I left for the tournament, although nothing can really prepare your body for doing that much bowling in such a short amount of time,” said Crowder, who added a lot of her bowling balls, stored in her garage at home, had cracked from the heat. “I don’t even feel I bowled particularly well, but I feel that I bowled consistently throughout by picking up a lot of spares.”
Nothing could’ve prepared Crowder for having one of her bowling shoes break during the first day of the tournament and having her removable thumbhole insert getting stuck in her bowling ball.
In the fourth game, her sole separated from the bottom of the shoe. She tried super glue to hold it together, but it didn’t work. So, she borrowed a sock from a teammate, put it over the outside of her shoe and bowled like that for the rest of the tournament and a teammate’s father helped sand out another removable thumbhole insert for Crowder to use.
“Teamwork is essential in situations where something unexpected happens,” Crowder said. “You cannot do everything on your own and expect to succeed. It improves not only overall performance but it also makes you feel included and a part of something meaningful. I would not have won this tournament had it not been for the support of my teammates and their families.”
Airmen interested in competing for Air Force sports can visit MyAirForceLife and complete a Form 303.