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Donna Adamek (born February 1, 1957, in Duarte, California[1]) is an American tenpin bowler who was named WIBC Bowler of the Year four times (1978–1981). She competed nationally on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour.
Adamek grew up in Monrovia, California, about 14 miles northeast of Los Angeles with her parents and her three older siblings.
Adamek started bowling at a very young age. Her parents recount that she was beating adult bowlers at age 10 – and even rolled a 200 in the fourth game she ever bowled. In 1975, Adamek, a senior at Monrovia High School received the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow Award for being the top junior bowler.[2] That same year Adamek bowled what was an American Junior Bowling Congress all-time high three-game series with a 745, earning her a mention in Sports Illustrated.[3] This success inspired her to turn professional. By 1976, after dropping out of California State University at age 19, she joined the professional circuit, and won her first title as a 20-year old in 1977.[1] Though naturally left-handed, Adamek bowls right-handed.
Nicknamed "The Mighty Mite", as she was just five feet, two inches tall and 125 pounds, Adamek dominated women's bowling between 1977 and 1981, winning 13 titles and five of her six career major championships during that span.[4] She won 19 professional titles (tied for ninth most all-time) in her 16-year career as a professional. Among those wins were two WIBC Queens titles (1979 and 1980), two U.S. Opens (1978 and 1981), the WPBA Championship in 1980 and the Sam's Town National Pro-Am in 1988. She is one of only four players in history (with Millie Martorella, Dotty Fothergill and Katsuko Sugimoto) to successfully defend a WIBC Queens title.
Adamek is a member of the PWBA and WIBC (now USBC) Halls of Fame.
Major championships are in bold text. (Source: 11thframe.com[5])
- 1977 Columbia 300 Classic
- 1977 Dallas-Fort Worth Open
- 1978 Rockford Open
- 1978 U.S. Women’s Open
- 1979 Montgomery Ward-Ebonite Classic
- 1979 WIBC Queens
- 1979 Pabst Extra Light Open II
- 1980 Natural Light-Bowl America Classic
- 1980 WIBC Queens
- 1980 Columbia 300-Bowl America WPBA Championship
- 1981 U.S. Women’s Open
- 1981 Stardust Classic
- 1981 Bowlers Journal International Classic
- 1982 Belleville Open
- 1983 Northwest Fabrics Classic
- 1988 Sam’s Town National Pro-Am
- 1989 Columbia 300 Delaware Open
- 1991 Robby’s Open
- 1991 Columbia 300 Delaware Open
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