A former Thompson resident is the second-best men's five-pin bowler in the country after losing 281-265 to national champion Shawn Haley of Quebec in the final of the 2012 Canadian Open 5-Pin Bowling Championships in Gatineau, Que., held May 30-June 2.

Brad Rusnak, Manitoba men's singles five-pin bowling champion, qualified for the final by beating Derek Home 232-202 in the third round of the men's singles stepladder playoff after finishing second in qualifying, behind Haley, with an aggregate score of 7688 in 30 games, an average of 256.3

Bowling as a member of the Westman team, Rusnak qualified for the nationals by winning the men's singles division at the Manitoba Provincial Open, held Easter Weekend in Brandon, qualifying first overall with a total score of 2,936 in 10 games, then beating third-place qualifier Ian Sylvester 324-263 in the final round of the stepladder playoffs.

Rusnak wasn't the only former Thompsonite representing Manitoba at the Canadian Open. Trevor Cook, who represented Manitoba at bowling nationals as a youth bowler, competed as a member of Manitoba's men's team, which qualified third with a total of 78.5 points, before losing 1169-1140 to fourth-place qualifiers Quebec in the opening round of men's team playoffs.

Cook, who averaged 229.19 points at the Canadian Open, helped the men's team from Winnipeg capture the provincial title at the Manitoba Provincial Open in April, bowling a perfect game during the round-robin, which was the first perfect game in competition bowled in Brandon and the first perfect game in a Manitoba provincial tournament since a Brandon bowler achieved the feat about 25 years ago when the provincials were hosted in Thompson.

Rusnak and Cook were both named to the Manitoba Provincial Open tournament all-star team.

A third former Thompson resident, Nicole Sentner, narrowly missed a trip to nationals after finishing fourth in the women's division as a member of the Westman team. The top three finishers qualified for nationals as members of Manitoba's mixed team. Sentner also represented Manitoba at youth nationals when she was living in Thompson. She and Cook also represented Manitoba at the national level in 2009.

Manitoba finished fourth in the aggregate standings at the Canadian Open, finishing with 26 points, eight of which were earned by Rusnak for his second-place finish.