ORLANDO, Fla. – Melia Mitskavich of DuBois celebrated Memorial Day in style by earning the top seed for the stepladder finals in her division and going on to claim the title at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress (USBC) U22 Queens, which was contested at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
Mitskavich, a 20-year-old right-hander who just finished her sophomore season bowling for two-time defending Intercollegiate Team Championships women’s national champion Jacksonville State University, reached the winner’s circle thanks to a 219-201 victory over Team USA and Junior Team USA member Katelyn Abigania of San Diego.
Mitskavich put her name atop the standings in the 93-player U22 Queens field after each of the first two days of qualifying. That earned the two-time Junior Team USA member (2025, 2026) the No. 1 seed for U22 Queens bracket match play, where she went undefeated, posting a 4-0 record on Sunday and Monday to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals.
Along the way, she set a U22 Queens record by averaging 230.2 over the course of 10 games.
Mitskavich was happy to have earned the top seed for the stepladder finals, as that meant she’d have to lose twice in order to miss out on the title. But as it turned out, Mitskavich would need no second chances.
Instead, she seized control of the championship match from the very beginning, using strikes on three of her first four shots to quickly establish a 29-pin lead over Abigania, who managed just one strike and suffered an open frame – a 2-8-10 split – over that same stretch.
Abigania used a four-bagger in frames five through eight to cut Mitskavich’s advantage down to just nine pins, but that’s as close as Abigania would get. That’s because her first shot in the ninth frame went long and came back too late, leaving a disastrous 2-4-8-10 split that the talented Vanderbilt right-hander was unable to convert.
The open frame left Abigania with a max score of 212. Mitskavich, meanwhile, could punch out in the ninth and 10th for 257.
The 2024 Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow award winner came up a bit shy of that mark, striking in the ninth frame and then leaving the 4-6-7-10 split in the 10th. It mattered not, though, as it was more than enough to give Mitskavich the victory to cap off a remarkable week of bowling in Orlando.
“Honestly, I don’t think the weekend could’ve gone any better for me, so to be able to finish it off feels really good right now,” Mitskavich said. “It feels unreal.”
What was unreal was Mitskavich’s performance at Boardwalk Bowl as, over the course of four days of competition, she broke two tournament records — highest 14-game qualifying total (3,202 — a 228.7 average) and highest match-play average — posted the only undefeated record among 24 U22 Queens match-play participants and was seemingly at or near the top of the standings at all times.
According to Mitskavich, the key to her stellar performance was staying relaxed and enjoying the moment.
“This weekend, honestly, I just wanted to bowl; I didn’t want to put any extra pressure on myself to perform,” she said. “I just wanted to do my thing and have fun, and I think it worked out pretty well for me.”
Mitskavich has enjoyed considerable success on the lanes, especially in the last few months; nevertheless, Monday’s victory was something special.
“Recently, we (Jacksonville State) won the ITC and NCAA national championships. It’s amazing to win with a team; that’s a great feeling,” Mitskavich said. “Still, it’s also very special to win when you’re out there by yourself, so it feels really good to win something individually.”
Despite competing as an individual, Mitskavich was hardly alone as several of her fellow Gamecocks were at Boardwalk Bowl cheering her on during the title match.
“It’s just so special that they were here to watch,” Mitskavich said. “I’m so thankful and love them all so much.”
Another thing Mitskavich can be thankful for is the $4,300 first-place check she received as this year’s champion. Abigania walked away with $2,150 for finishing second while defending champ Aleesha Oden of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who fell to Abigania by a score of 268-183 during the U22 Queens semifinal match, earned $1,750.
For more information on the 2026 U22 Masters and U22 Queens, visit BOWL.com/U22.
(This story was printed with permission from author Gene J. Kanak, USBC Communications. For more information regarding the USBC, visit BOWL.com.)