Brian Voss

Justin Hromek of Andover, Kan. led comfortably after 26 games of the $220,000 AC/Delco PBA Tournament Thursday night at Cal Bowl in Lakewood. But popular sentiment seemed to be with Robert Smith, who graduated two years ago from Royal High School in Simi Valley and was in third place--65 pins behind the leader. Hromek, seeking his second PBA title, won six of eight matches with a high game of 268 for a 5,913 total. Parker Bohn III of Freehold, N.J., at 5,849, was second. Smith's total was 5,848.

San Diego State freshman Will Tate, who attended Southwest High School, will move from wide receiver to defensive back and junior Merten Harris of Detroit will switch from cornerback to wide receiver, Coach Al Luginbill said Monday. Tate, who has been nursing a knee injury, has had some experience playing defense in high school. Harris will play behind seniors Tony Nettles, Robert Claiborne and Monty Gilbreath. Luginbill said Harris might be redshirted this year.

One thing is for sure, the competition will be hot in the pro bowling final of the AC/Delco tournament at noon today. When the TV lights go on at Gable House Bowl in Torrance for the national telecast, "it'll be like a heat wave hitting," said Parker Bohn III. Bohn, who averaged better than 222 for 42 games, finished as the qualifying leader. So, it will be the lean left-hander from New Jersey seeded No. 1 in the roll-off for the $27,000 first prize.

Mike Aulby of Cincinnati took command of the $220,000 AC/Delco pro bowling tournament at Cal Bowl in Lakewood on Thursday. In quest of his 23rd title in 16 years on the national tour, the president of the Pro Bowlers Assn. highlighted his third round with a 299 game. As the 180-bowler field was cut to 24 for the match-play semifinals, Aulby, 33, found himself 50 pins ahead of one of the PBA's budding stars, 20-year-old Robert Smith of Moorpark.

Is there life after 40 on the demanding pro bowling tour? "You betcha," says easy-talking Butch Soper. The Tustin pro has missed only three PBA tournaments in seven years and will begin another today in the $145,000 Kessler event at Town Square Lanes in Riverside. At 41, he is one of two "old men" among the many young challengers toting the 16-pound ball to the foul line 6 1/2 hours a day, week after week. The other is Ernie Schlagel, 44. Both are winners.

Marshall Holman has trod the tournament trail of the Professional Bowlers' Assn., and earned $1,496,201. Some of the young bowlers competing against him today in the $175,000 AC-Delco tournament at Gable House Bowl in Torrance were just out of kindergarten when the all-time PBA money leader began his career in 1974. Young bowlers of two decades ago, including present-day champion Amleto Monacelli, say they studied Holman's delivery to develop their own styles.

At 5 feet 5 and 115 pounds, Chris Warren, 27, looks more suited to riding a racehorse than rolling a bowling ball for a living. Fellow pros affectionately call him "Squeaky" because of his highpitched Texas twang, which fans heard very little of until last year. After five hard-to-make-a-buck years, Warren finally landed in the limelight on the national tournament tour of the Pro Bowlers Assn. He finished 1990 with the most individual titles--four--and was second in earnings, with $197,185.

--Yves Pol is a man who knows where he's been, even if he doesn't always see where he's going. Pol ran the entire 26.2 miles of the New York City Marathon backward, finishing in 4 hours and 40 minutes, about the middle of the pack of 22,000 runners. "Mr. Pol had been suffering from a lung infection for the past several days, so his time was not as fast as he hoped it would be," said Shondar Dalton, the owner of an athletic shoe store in New York who spoke on behalf of Pol.

If you are still wondering which horse to bet in today's Preakness, let Andrew Beyer, horse racing writer for the Washington Post, assist you in your selection. Beyer makes the case for Derby winner Unbridled in a race he says will go to the swiftest: "Summer Squall couldn't possibly have found himself in a better tactical position than he had in the early stages of the Derby. Five (front-runners) were battling for the lead, and he was sitting sixth, in perfect striking position.

It has taken a decade of hits and misses for Norm Duke to become No. 1 in bowling. The Oklahoman from Edmond was 18 and an overnight sensation in 1983, when he won a title in his first year on the Pro Bowlers Assn. tour. No one that young had won a PBA title. And no one younger has since. Yet, he struggled for the next eight years, until he won two tour titles in 1991 and then another in 1993 along with the ABC Masters.