Montgomery, 14, put together a second-place finish at the tournament, recording a 1,258 total through five games to finish a mere 76 points back of Regina’s Liah Schmidt in the girls singles division.
She won’t be making the trip to Ottawa in March by herself, either, as South Hill Bowling Centre teammate Jackson Leroy also earned a nationals berth with a bronze medal finish in boys singles.
The Canadian championship appearance will be the first of the year for both competitors, as they’re also representing Saskatchewan at the YBC championships in April.
For Montgomery, it was a back-and-forth battle throughout as she took a 75 point-lead out of the opening game, rolling a 297 to Schmidt’s 222. Schmidt would get all of that back and then some in game two, though, rolling a 307 as Montgomery had an uncharacteristically off game, scoring 165 to trail by 67 points.
Montgomery would finish with games of 310, 241 and 245 to cap the tournament.
Leroy, 17, came even closer to a provincial title.
An opening-round 282 saw Leroy sitting in the top five after the first round, and after a 206 in game two, he improved consistently with scores of 222, 251 and 259 for a 1,220 total.
The difference in the standings? Only seven points behind second-place finisher Michael Pelechaty and 25 behind champion Dawson Hilborn of Regina.
The success didn’t end there for the Moose Jaw crew.
Leroy, Leigham McLeod, Owen Wendt, Matthew Lazurko and Hunter Shaw would finish in third place in the boy’s team competition, with their 5,421 total landing 49 points back of second-place Prince Albert and just under 200 behind the champions from Saskatoon.
The mixed team including Montgomery, Connor Johnson, Tristan Smith, Trevor Coxe and Kelsey Gehlen also landed in the bronze medal position, finishing with a 4,771 total and 78 points back of Prince Albert, 192 back of champions Saskatoon.
Leroy and Montgomery will next compete at Youth Challenge nationals running from Mar. 25-29 in Ottawa, Ont. and Gatineau, Que.
