RICHMOND — There were large increases in the number of men who excelled in the three major measures of bowling success — averages, series scores and game scores — during the 2011-12 season at Galaxy compared to the previous two seasons.

The official 2011-12 United States Bowling Congress season covered the period from Aug. 1, 2011 through July 31, 2012.

The top achievements by the men at Galaxy this season are recognized in today’s column. The top performances by the women will be noted in next week’s column.

The highest averages for the past season were 222 recorded by Brandon Lutes in 45 games in the Galaxy Classic League and 220 by John Poynter in 87 games in the same league.

The USBC does not combine scores from multiple leagues to determine an average. A bowler may compile averages in more than one league. The average listed in the top averages section later in this column is the bowler’s best average in any one sanctioned league at Galaxy. A bowler must roll a minimum of 21 games in a league to have his average considered official by the USBC.

A total of 20 bowlers compiled an average of 200 or higher at Galaxy this season. This is a huge increase over the two previous seasons as just nine bowlers reached this level in 2010-11, and only one in 2009-10. Part of this increase may be attributed to the improved lane conditions and part to an increase in the number of league bowlers.

John Poynter bowled the only 800 series for the season with a score of 814. Brandon Simpson bowled the only 800 series (812) in 2010-11, while there were no 800 series bowled during the 2009-10 season.

The highest series scores ever bowled at the local venues were 824 by John Poynter at Maroon Lanes in Oct. 1992 and 824 by Eric Grimes at Galaxy in March 2006.

A total of 62 700-level series were bowled this season by 25 men. This is a large increase from the 37 700-level series bowled by 18 men during the 2010-11 season, and the one 700-level series each bowled by 8 men during the 2009-10 season.

Neil Haggard earned the unofficial title of “Mr. 700” by bowling 10 700-level series this past season. Others who bowled more than one 700 series this season and the number of times they reached that goal were: Poynter (six), Brandon Simpson (five), Lewis Jones Jr. (four), Aaron Rose (four), Brandon Lutes (three), Bill Bowles (three), John Hickam (three), Glenn Masters (three), Tyler Morgan (three), Lynn Estes (two), Ron Gugel (two), Barry Miller (two), Keith Nash (two) and Andrew Magedanz (two).

There were six 300 games bowled this season by four local keglers. Haggard and Brandon Simpson rolled two perfect games each, while Poynter and Ron Gugel reached perfection once.

There were no 300 games bowled during the 2010-11 season, and only one, by Lewis Jones Jr., in 2009-10. A 299 game by Lewis Jones, Sr. was the high game for 2010-11.

Nineteen men rolled one or more games of 275 or higher this season - up from 15 in 2010-11 and five in 2009-10.

Best 2011-12 men’s averages

Brandon Lutes    222

John Poynter    220

Matt Cracraft    218

Ron Gugel    217

Neil Haggard    215

Brandon Simpson    213

Tyler Morgan    213

Mike Hilvers    212

Barry Miller    211

John Hickam    210

Andrew Magedanz    210

Spider Weaver    209

Aaron Rose    209

Lewis Jones Jr.    208

Mark Rogers    206

Bill Bowles    206

Shawn Barton    206

David Norman    204

Glenn Masters    201

Ronnie Thomas    200

Best 2011-12 Men’s Series

John Poynter    814

Neil Haggard    792

Brandon Lutes    771

Ron Gugel    749

Spider Weaver    748

Tyler Morgan    745

John Hickam    743

Ronnie Thomas    737

Brandon Simpson    736

Aaron Rose    733

Glenn Masters    727

Mike E. Bryant    725

Lewis Jones Jr.    724

Barry Miller    717

Mark Rogers    714

Keith Nash    714

Matt Joyce    713

Shawn Barton    712

Bill Bowles    711

Matt Cracraft    711

Andrew Magedanz    709

Ronald Richmond    707

Mike Hilvers    705

Lynn Estes    704

David Norman    702

Best 2011-12 Men’s Games

Brandon Simpson    300

Neil Haggard    300

Ron Gugel    300

John Poynter    300

Mike Hilvers    290

Tyler Morgan    289

John Hickam    289

Mark Rogers    288

David Norman    280

Lewis Jones Jr.    279

Gary Wagoner    279

Ronald Richmond    279

Brandon Lutes    279

Bill Bowles    278

Cody Daly    278

Glenn Masters    278

Ron Roberts    278

Cody Dapkus    277

Mike E. Bryant    276

League action starts this week

Three leagues will open the 2012-13 season this week. The non-sanctioned Cash Money League opens play at 7 p.m. today, the Galaxy Girls start the new season with a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday followed by the first night of bowling and the Early Birds begin the new season at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The Galaxy Classic League will hold an organizational meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 with the first night of bowling to follow.

The starting dates for the other fall leagues are —  Arlington Sept. 4 at 9 a.m., Wednesday Wonders Sept. 5, Classic Doubles Sept. 6, TGIF Sept. 7, Friday Night Mixed Sept. 7 and Bad Bowlers No-Tap Sept. 11. The starting time for the latter five leagues is 6:30 p.m.

There is space available for teams and individuals in all leagues. Call 624-4444 or come on the first night to join a league and enjoy America’s number one participant sport.

Swap day Sunday

The second-annual Galaxy swap day will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday. Bowlers are invited to bring balls and other equipment they no longer need to sell or trade.

A Monte Carlo event will be held at 6 p.m. Several colored pins are placed in the rack and bowlers can earn cash by rolling a strike when the head pin is a colored pin or by converting spares which include colored pins.

The Monte Carlo entry fee is $15.

Lane inspection completed

The annual inspection of the lanes at Galaxy was completed Aug. 5 by several members of the MCBA board of directors.

Those participating in this task included Lewis Jones Jr., Harvey Poynter, Gary Kerns, Carl Daniels, Terry Jackson, Julia Landreth, Tyler Morgan, David Norman and Dean Acker.

They were assisted by Galaxy staff members Brandon Simpson and Nate Haskins.

The level of each lane and the pin decks were checked at six different locations to be sure they are within the allowances permitted by the USBC.

Also, the pin setters are checked to see that they are placing each pin on the proper place on the pin deck. Those which are off more than one-quarter of an inch have to be recalibrated before the start of the new season.

Each time I assist with this project I am amazed at the complexity and genius of the pin setters.

Not only does the pin setter pick up the pins not knocked down and hold them out of the way while the downed pins are swept off the deck and channeled into slots in the next rack, but the pins which were picked up are set back in the location from which they were lifted, even if that location is not the original spot.

The development of the pin setter revolutionized the sport of bowling by eliminating the need for pin boys.