Bowler Duane Smith honored to join Parkersburg USBC Hall of Fame
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PARKERSBURG -- Duane Smith, the co-proprietor of Pike Street Lanes, was more than honored following his induction last month into the Parkersburg USBC Hall of Fame.
The 1986 Parkersburg South graduate, who earned his degree in sports management at West Virginia University, still owns the city record high series of 878 he rolled at Pike Street Lanes.
Although Smith would be the first to tell anyone "I'm just not a numbers crunching guy" he definitely has some lofty career stats that includes 17 perfect games and a baker's dozen 800 series.
"It's an honor. Just the fact you're with a lot of my peers I've bowled with for many years and competed with," admitted Smith, who said local USBC President Adam Corbitt broke the news to him.
"It's great to be alongside all of them and be part of that fraternity where you can sit back and recognize some of the stuff you have done over the years and people are taking notice."
Smith started bowling at the former Willow Lanes in Belpre at the age of 6 and fell in love with the sport.
During his time in Morgantown, Smith competed in bowling and said "we were sponsored through the Mountain Lair. We weren't sanctioned through the athletic department. We were like a club sport.
"The Mountain Lair provided us funds to travel and we did some fundraisers and things like that. They'd provide us a van for transportation and we could practice for free."
During his senior year Smith was the team captain and tournament director of the Mountaineer Collegiate Classic. He led WVU to a third place finish at sectionals as a sophomore, but only the top two teams qualified for nationals. That season he was named the most outstanding bowler with a 234 average. He also was the ACUI East Region singles champion as a senior and finished third that year in the doubles nationals with a bowler from Michigan State. On top of that, his 221 average was good for first team all-tournament at the Brunswick Baltimore Collegiate Classic.
Smith's life path took shape while in Morgantown as he learned about the Brunswick bowling management program, which he interviewed for and got the job.
"I started in their management program running bowling centers," Smith said. "I started in Philadelphia and I got my own bowling center north of Yonkers, New York. My first bowling center. Brunswick ended up selling that center and I got a management position in Baltimore."
Following a four-year stint in Baltimore, Smith admitted "I just wanted to come back to my roots. I still loved the bowling industry.
"It's not that I didn't want to still be involved with it on the management operations. I wanted to get a little closer to home."
Smith eventually married wife Lisa – a teacher at Blennerhassett – and had two children, daughter Lexie and son Josh, who is currently bowling at the University of Pikeville.
"Bowling has opened up so many avenues for me personally as well as my family," added Smith, who took ownership of the former Ren-Dor Lanes in 2007 and changed the name. "The main reason we did that is we felt we wanted a new look.
"A new outcome. A lot of people didn't know there was an ownership change. It's one of those icons that's been on southside since the early 1960s and people still recognize it as Ren-Dor."
The newest HOF member, who had a high career average of 237, carried a 230-plus average for eight consecutive years and was the Mountain State USBC scratch doubles champion in 1998 with Bryan Taylor, just finished his 29th consecutive year of competing in the USBC national tournament.
"I'm a humble guy. I don't like to toot my own horn," added Smith, who was pleased to have several former WVU teammates come to his induction. "It was nice to have that little bit of feeling where other people notice. It was a cool honor.
"The ceremony was good. The guy who inducted me and did the speech, we've been friends for 30-plus years and he's gone to nationals with us about 80% of the time. We do the national things as a reunion. We want to bowl well, but we're there for the camaraderie."
When it comes to still holding the city record for high series Smith admitted "I feel very privileged that I accomplished that.
"I still bowl in the league every year and a few other scratch events. I'm not quite as competitive as I used to be, but I can still hold my own to some degree."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com