Unlike more than a few of the 180-plus bowlers in the competition, Weylin Rice wasn’t just hoisting a heavy ball to avoid competing in the Texas heat. He came to roll.
As a result, the 14-year-old can proudly hoist the three gold and two silver medals he won bowling at the JCC Maccabi Games in Dallas last week.
The Novato resident, who works in a bowling alley and sports an average of 187, crushed the competition, headlining an Osher Marin JCC team of nine athletes who came away with an impressive 12 total medals.
“I really didn’t expect to walk away with three golds,” said the aspiring pro bowler, whose nine-game average of 185 was 13 pins higher than the second-place finisher.
“I didn’t expect to bowl in any kind of Olympics. The Maccabi Games were a huge step for me.”
Rice, a graduate of Brandeis Hillel Day School and a congregant at Kol Shofar, hit a high game of 224 en route to top finishes in the individual and two team events.
Bowling was good to the Osher Marin JCC’s inaugural Maccabi squad, as fellow rollers Kevin Foster and Jonathan Meyer also walked away with medals. Golfer Clayton Kornhauser and sprinter Ryan Soifer also picked up a bronze and a sliver, respectively.
Five Bay Area JCCs sent contingents to four Maccabi cities — Dallas and San Antonio, Texas; St. Paul, Minn.; and Richmond, Va. All told, more than 6,000 Jewish teens met, mingled and competed.
The Addison-Penzack JCC of Los Gatos also made the most of its first foray into Maccabi competition, as its 16-and-under girls’ soccer team shocked a number of big-city competitors en route to a surprising silver. The squad dumped Houston, Baltimore, St. Louis, San Antonio and a combined Westchester/Seattle squad before falling to Orange County in the Gold Medal game.
The Palo Alto JCC sent athletes to both St. Paul and Dallas, and came away with a handful of medals. Michael Shubat won a pair in track and swimmers Jake Reingold, Amira Kipnis and Beth Holtzman picked up a slew between them in the aquatic events. Finally, the boys’ 16-and-under soccer team captured a bronze.
The JCC of San Francisco sent a delegation to St. Paul, where windsurfer Gal Fridman, Israel’s only Olympic gold medalist, lit the opening torch.
In the land of 10,000 lakes, the JCCSF baseball team notched a silver medal, as did the girls’ volleyball team. The boys’ basketball team netted a bronze. Josh Hornthal and Michael Zwerling picked up silvers in track while the JCC’s large female dance team won a horde of medals, including three golds for their large dance numbers.
Finally, the Peninsula JCC team, competing in San Antonio, captured gold in the women’s 16-and-under volleyball. The PJCC team also won a handful of silvers and bronzes in the aquatic events.