Dawn Mardell and Lonny Akers celebrate their achievement. (Image Credit: Submitted/ Michael Pelechaty)

By Nigel Maxwell

Rollin' with it

Prince Albert’s new bowling champions

Jan 27, 2026 | 4:42 PM

The Prince Albert Five Pin Bowlers Association has crowned two new city champions.

Over the weekend, the Great Western Open qualifiers were held at Minto Bowl and Rec Centre and after 20 games, Lonny Akers and Dawn Mardell stood alone at the top of their respective division leaderboards.

Akers’s best game was a 324 and he finished with an average of 269.45.

“It was a pretty special feeling honestly,” Akers told paNOW when asked how it felt to hold up the award.

“It had been a while since I had won the city title and the doubts had crept into my head due to some injuries I have had last few years that made me wonder if I was ever going to be able to do it again.”

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Reflecting back on the weekend, Akers said 20 games can be gruelling, but added he went in with a bit of confidence and felt his overall play was solid.

Mardell’s best game was a 316 and her final average was 247.45. She said the accomplishment of winning the award and earning the right to represent Prince Albert at provincials felt amazing.

“I’ve qualified in years past but I came into the beginning of this year with a new mind set from previous years. My goal for qualifiers was to finish first, which I did and and to average 250 which I was just shy of,” she said.

Mardell went on to explain pin bowling is unforgiving, every pin counts, misses can haunt you and consistency is the key.

“Twenty games is a lot but my mental game held up. I made shots when I knew I needed to and instead of forcing the shot I focused on trusting it.”

Provincials will be held in Saskatoon at the end of March.

Here are the teams representing Prince Albert:

Ladies (coached by Sean Dieno)

Dawn Mardell

Cora White-Furi

Carol Paetsch

Christa Mulhall

Bella Mulhall (made the team in her rookie year and will play alongside her mother)

Shawna Boyer-Kirkham

Men’s (coached by Lawrence Holizki)

Lonny Akers

Zach Nilson

Dallas Vandale

Jack Mukli

Justin Vansil

Michael Pelechaty

Mixed (coached by Tracy Pitt)

Brian Earl

Meirah Bender

Dannyll Challis

Jamie Szocs

Mike Akers

Tamara Hamilton

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell