Frame one: strike. 

It was 8 a.m., March 2, and junior Jenna Charlton was on her second game in the bowling alley. 

Frame 2: Strike. Frame 3: Strike.

By the fourth frame, a worker called out: “I’m about to watch a 300!”

She tried to ignore him — she didn’t want to jinx herself — but the frames kept stacking up: strike, strike, strike. As every pin fell down for the 12th time, Jenna finally felt like she could breathe. 

It was her first perfect game. 

Jenna began bowling competitively in 2021, and is the only bowler at the school, but bowls with the Lewisville boys team. After winning first place in the district for girls Feb. 22, she will compete at the state meet March 29.

“I’m doing something with bowling,” Jenna said. “I don’t shy away from bowling because I’m a girl — I [become] more passionate about it. I show up and I stand out.”

From the moment she could roll a bowling ball, Jenna spent most of her time in the bowling alley while her parents and sister played. She began bowling when she was 5 years old and continued the sport for a year. She took a break from the sport for a couple of years, but began bowling again in 2021 with her sister, father and mother. 

“It blew up from there,” Jenna’s mother, Susan Charlton, said. “She got back into [bowling] and loved the sport like the rest of us. Bowling is in her blood.” 

It took less than a year for Jenna to decide she wanted to pursue bowling competitively. Her average was 100. 

“I was like ‘Yeah, no way,’” Jenna said. “‘I’m not taking this.’ I just kept practicing and pushing myself to do better.”

At tournaments, each bowler is given a handicap made from their average taken away from 200. That handicap number is then added to what the bowler scores at the tournament, which makes the competition more even. 

“You don’t have to be good to win,” Jenna said. “You have the potential to be new, really experienced or somewhere in the middle and still place high. No matter what level you’re on, it doesn’t take away from how good you’ll do. Everything depends on meeting your own goals.”

Jenna, her sister and her father began racing to see who could bowl a perfect game first. Jenna’s sister bowled her second perfect game in January, and Jenna bowled her first perfect game in early March. The probability of rolling a 300 is 0.026.

“As a parent, you want nothing but the best for your kids,” Jenna’s dad, Greg Charlton, said. “Seeing Jenna and her sister meet my skill and surpass me fills me with such a pride I can’t explain. I want them to be the best they can be in the sport.”

Along with state March 29, Jenna will compete in all-districts the following weekend and the national tournament in Green Bay, WI, this summer. For now, Jenna said she’s just focused on state. 

“I’ll put my best foot forward,” Jenna said. “I’m going to try to meet or beat my last few games, just like I’ve always been told. Whether I place high or low, I’m going to be proud.”