Brad Rusnak and Trevor Cook, former Thompson residents and five-pin bowlers, now competing in Westman and Winnipeg respectively, helped Manitoba earn a fifth-place finish in the men's team division at the Master Bolwers of Canada 2012 national championships in St. John's, Newfoundland on June 28.

Team Manitoba finished with 84.5 points, five behind fourth-place Alberta and 24.5 in back of the champions from Ontario.

Rusnak led the Manitobans with a 15-6 head-to-head record, three games of 300 or more points and an average of 257.3. His best game, with a score of 365, was second on the squad to Randy Morrissette's high game of 368.

Cook was third on Manitoba in wins, with a record of 10-11, and had the third-highest average for his province, while twice scoring more than 300 points, including his best score of 322.

Earlier this year, Rusnak was 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.

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.

Cook, who represented Manitoba at bowling nationals as a youth bowler, competed at that tournament 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 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.