Demaline’s dominance a long time coming

Lawrence High junior started bowling at age 4, owned a ball at age 8 and broke 200 at age 10

Tiffany Demaline won the inaugural Kansas state bowling championship as a 15-year-old freshman in 2005, but the Lawrence High junior was first exposed to the sport at an even earlier age.

She began bowling at age 4, using a between-the-legs rolling technique. At 8 she received her first ball and learned how to throw a hook. At 10 her grandfather, Butch Demaline, witnessed her surpass 200 for the first time with a score of 216.

“She grew up bowling,” LHS coach Greg Farley said.

During her preteen years, Demaline worked various jobs, including signing out shoes at the front desk, handling the snack bar and setting bowling pins at Sunflower Lanes – an Ottawa alley owned by her mother, Mickie Bushnell and stepfather, John Peters. She bowled every day for as many as five hours straight.

“That’s what got me more serious,” Demaline said. “I bowled all the time and practiced all the time for free.”

Her mother, father and grandparents all bowled regularly. Her brother, Tyler, 19, also took to the sport and averaged a 205 – a mark Tiffany has bested – while bowling at LHS.

The intricacies of the sport have captivated her. After Demaline, 17, spouted technical bowling terms like “silder foot,” a reporter had to ask her for more colloquial definitions.

“She loves the sport,” Farley said. “I’ve just never seen anybody enjoy the sport as much as she does.”

Despite Demaline’s success as a freshman, she receded a bit during her sophomore campaign, competing in regionals but not state. Injuries to her knee – from years of bowling, running and roughhousing with Tyler – back and hip limited her.

Her knees still throb this season, but knee braces make the pain more manageable. She rehabilitated during the offseason and altered her bowling stance to help alleviate the back pain.

“Last year my back hurt really bad,” Demaline said. “This year it’s doing a lot better.”

lawrence high junior Tiffany Demaline has bowled since age 4. She won the state championship as a freshman.

The junior, though, declined to cite those injuries as a reason for her sophomore slump.

“Stuff happens,” she said. “Everyone has their bad days.”

But Demaline has not had many of them, and Farley said her intensity helped make her an elite bowler. Watch Demaline bowl, and she will high five or pound fists with teammates, but she rarely smiles or celebrates after strikes. She does not pout after the rare errant shot, and that demeanor instills confidence in her squad.

“She is such a good bowler,” Farley said. “By not showing that emotion, it really helps her teammates. When she’s throwing well, they believe they can have a better game.”

Demaline best exemplified that composure when she bowled a 300 score as a freshman at Olathe Lanes East. During her last seven rolls, she exuded patience. Some bowlers have a tendency to press during those situations, but Demaline never hurried, even pausing for drinks of water.

“The best frame for her is the ninth, going into the tenth.” Farley said. “She can just block everything out.”

That perfect performance represents one of Demaline’s most memorable bowling experiences. Another came at Wichita’s Northrock Bowling Center during her state title two years ago in front of more than 1,000 people. Her 733 series ranked as the fifth-best score of the day among both boy and girl participants.

“She was actually really calm about it,” said Jessica Wyatt, a junior, who often is paired with Demaline during meets. “Tiffany followed through and won it.”

Asked whether she aimed to repeat that success at state this year, Demaline declined to cite that as a goal, only saying she wanted to “stay focused.”

One, however, can infer loftier objectives. In 2006 Demaline did not reach state, but she attended to support Wyatt, among others. She did not relish her status as an observer.

“Last year when I went to state and watched,” Demaline said, “it killed me.”

Come this year’s state championship, look for a focused and healthy Demalline to become an active participant.

“Without all the injuries,” Farley said, “we really are expecting great things from her as we head into the home stretch.”