By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls bowling team rode its balance to a Class 6A regional team championship Wednesday at West Ridge Lanes, punching its ticket to next Thursday's state tournament at Wichita.
Washburn Rural's girls bowling team poses for a picture after winning the team title in Wednesday's Class 6A regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's girls react to the announcement that they finished first in Wednesday's Class 6A regional bowling tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Claire Ireland paced the Junior Blues with a 595 three-game series to finish fifth individually while three other Rural bowlers posted top-15 finishes and Washburn Rural finished its day with a strong performance in the four Baker format games to take a 3,040-2,988 victory over Olathe Northwest and Mill Valley.
"They were pretty solid all the way through,'' Rural coach Jo Ricard said of her team. "We've had a good week of practice leading up to this and we knew that if the girls would just do their job, get their spares and hit their targets and those type of things, that we would be OK.
"We had some really good practice work with Baker this week as well and Baker was strong again and we know that can be a huge key piece for us.''
Washburn Rural senior Claire Ireland bowled a 595 series to finish fifth in Wednesday's Class 6A regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Ireland got her day off to a strong start with a 247 game, the second-highest game of the day in the girls tournament. Then, after struggling to a second-game 156, bowled a solid 192 in her final game to pace the Junior Blues.
"I was a little frustrated in the middle but I think I just needed to hit my target and it wasn't happening, but my last game helped me out a little bit,'' Ireland said.
Ireland was the lone Rural bowler to finish in the top 10 individually, but Megan Glinka (550) and Elizabeth Poling (547) finished 11th and 12th and Gabby Martinez was 15th (537).
"We all had our moments,'' Ireland said. "I think that we all picked each other up at the right times when we needed to and it was definitely a team win.
"Our first two games of Baker weren't too great, they could have been a little better, but our last two were in the 200s and they really helped us. I think winning this gives us a lot of confidence going into next week.''
Camrynn Ahrens added a 502 series and Ashley Billups a 493 to round out Rural's lineup.
Washburn Rural trailed Mill Valley by 28 pins (2,301-2,273) entering the Baker competition but the Junior Blues took over the lead with a tournament-best 767 total in its four Baker games, 45 pins better than any other team in the field.
While it was a day to celebrate for the Junior Blue girls the Rural boys saw their 6A championship reign come to an end with a sixth-place team finish.
The Junior Blues will have a representative in the state tournament, however, with Cody Spangler bowling a 664 series to finish seventh individually and earn the fourth of six individual state berths.
"We knew this was going to be a tough regional,'' Ricard said. "You look at what the scores were from the teams coming in and on any certain day if you're on you're on and going to be good and if you struggle a little bit you're not going to make it. That's what hurt us.''
Thomas Patterson, Topeka High
Topeka High finished 10th in the 12-school field in the team standings but it was a big day for Trojan senior Thomas Patterson, who finished fifth with a 682 series to earn the second individual state berth.
"These last few weeks my game has improved a whole lot,'' Patterson said. "I tried to come in here with an open mind because I knew it would be a tight race among the individual bowlers.''
Patterson, who is in his second season of high school bowling, rolled games of 244, 234 and 204 to earn his trip to state after missing state by 40 pins as a junior.
"I strung some strikes together and tried to pick up all my spares and just hope for the best,'' Patterson said. "I only had four spares throughout the three games, the rest were strikes.''
The 6A state meet will be contested next Thursday at the Bowlero-Northrock, with the boys tournament starting at 8:25 a.m. and the girls to follow at 1:15 p.m.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL BOWLING
At West Ridge
BOYS
Team scores
Mill Valley 3,472, Olathe Northwest 3,445, Gardner-Edgerton 3,440, Junction City 3,411, Olathe West 3,313, Washburn Rural 3,291, Manhattan 3.252, Lawrence 3,085, Lawrence Free State 3,027, Topeka High 2,952, Wichita Southeast 2,851, Kansas City-Wyandotte 2,128.
Individual results
1. Jesse Holtcamp, Junction City, 728; 2. Ethan Diehl, Mill Valley, 715; 3. Brayden Miller, Olathe Northwest, 706; 4. Kadin Feuerborn, Gardner-Edgerton, 691; 5. Thomas Patterson, Topeka High, 682; 6. Adam Hemker, Free State, 674; 7. Cody Spangler, Washburn Rural, 664; 8. Evan Slife, Gardner-Edgerton, 646; 9. Graesyn Hoss, Lawrence, 644; 10. Simon Clark, Olathe Northwest, 643.
Individual state qualifiers -- Jesse Holtcamp, Junction City, 728; Thomas Patterson, Topeka High, 682; Adam Hemker, Free State, 674; Cody Spangler, Washburn Rural, 664; Graesyn Hoss, Lawrence, 644; Hayden Galeski, Olathe West, 642.
Other Washburn Rural -- Jackson Keller 617, Brennan Inloes 580, Tyler Faurot 576, Logan Glinka 565, Conner Ahrens 563.
Other Topeka High -- Austin Mitchell 603, Adam Krohe 488, Travis Shyne 448, Avery Donaldson 446, Miles Barnes 302.
GIRLS
Team scores
Washburn Rural 3,040, Olathe Northwest 2,988, Mill Valley 2,988, Junction City 2,872, Olathe West 2,788, Wichita Southeast 2,632, Lawrence Free State 2,381, Manhattan 2,370, Lawrence 2,316, Gardner-Edgerton 2,262, Topeka High 2,177, KC-Wyandotte 1,613.
Individual results
1. Ali Glasscock, Olathe Northwest, 656; 2. Layla Gonzalez, Mill Valley, 639; 3. Myranda Rogers, Gardner-Edgerton, 600; 4. Angelina Tichenor, Junction City, 598; 5. Claire Ireland, Washburn Rural, 595; 6. Karma Bitner, Olathe West, 588; 7. Skyler Holmes, Olathe Northwest, 580; 8. Alyssa Brantley, Wichita Southeast, 574; 9. Kiara Gonzalez, Mill Valley, 574; 10. Lexie Eberle, Olathe West, 562.
Individual state qualifiers -- Myranda Rogers, Gardner-Edgerton, 600; Angelina Tichenor, Junction City, 598; Karma Bitner, Olathe West, 588; Alyssa Brantley, Wichita Southeast, 574; Lexie Eberle, Olathe West, 562; Grace Radi, Manhattan, 541.
Other Washburn Rural -- Megan Glinka 550, Elizabeth Poling 547, Gabby Martinez 537, Camrynn Ahrens 502, Ashley Billups 493.
Other Topeka High -- Aleshia White 478, Kayda Villanueva 412, Gaviena Frank 369, Greci Carlos-Oliveros 347, Rylee Salts 322, Molly Meseke 248.
Washburn Rural's girls bowling team rode its balance to a Class 6A regional team championship Wednesday at West Ridge Lanes, punching its ticket to next Thursday's state tournament at Wichita.
Washburn Rural's girls bowling team poses for a picture after winning the team title in Wednesday's Class 6A regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's girls react to the announcement that they finished first in Wednesday's Class 6A regional bowling tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Claire Ireland paced the Junior Blues with a 595 three-game series to finish fifth individually while three other Rural bowlers posted top-15 finishes and Washburn Rural finished its day with a strong performance in the four Baker format games to take a 3,040-2,988 victory over Olathe Northwest and Mill Valley.
"They were pretty solid all the way through,'' Rural coach Jo Ricard said of her team. "We've had a good week of practice leading up to this and we knew that if the girls would just do their job, get their spares and hit their targets and those type of things, that we would be OK.
"We had some really good practice work with Baker this week as well and Baker was strong again and we know that can be a huge key piece for us.''
Washburn Rural senior Claire Ireland bowled a 595 series to finish fifth in Wednesday's Class 6A regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Ireland got her day off to a strong start with a 247 game, the second-highest game of the day in the girls tournament. Then, after struggling to a second-game 156, bowled a solid 192 in her final game to pace the Junior Blues.
"I was a little frustrated in the middle but I think I just needed to hit my target and it wasn't happening, but my last game helped me out a little bit,'' Ireland said.
Ireland was the lone Rural bowler to finish in the top 10 individually, but Megan Glinka (550) and Elizabeth Poling (547) finished 11th and 12th and Gabby Martinez was 15th (537).
"We all had our moments,'' Ireland said. "I think that we all picked each other up at the right times when we needed to and it was definitely a team win.
"Our first two games of Baker weren't too great, they could have been a little better, but our last two were in the 200s and they really helped us. I think winning this gives us a lot of confidence going into next week.''
Camrynn Ahrens added a 502 series and Ashley Billups a 493 to round out Rural's lineup.
Washburn Rural trailed Mill Valley by 28 pins (2,301-2,273) entering the Baker competition but the Junior Blues took over the lead with a tournament-best 767 total in its four Baker games, 45 pins better than any other team in the field.
While it was a day to celebrate for the Junior Blue girls the Rural boys saw their 6A championship reign come to an end with a sixth-place team finish.
The Junior Blues will have a representative in the state tournament, however, with Cody Spangler bowling a 664 series to finish seventh individually and earn the fourth of six individual state berths.
"We knew this was going to be a tough regional,'' Ricard said. "You look at what the scores were from the teams coming in and on any certain day if you're on you're on and going to be good and if you struggle a little bit you're not going to make it. That's what hurt us.''
Thomas Patterson, Topeka High
Topeka High finished 10th in the 12-school field in the team standings but it was a big day for Trojan senior Thomas Patterson, who finished fifth with a 682 series to earn the second individual state berth.
"These last few weeks my game has improved a whole lot,'' Patterson said. "I tried to come in here with an open mind because I knew it would be a tight race among the individual bowlers.''
Patterson, who is in his second season of high school bowling, rolled games of 244, 234 and 204 to earn his trip to state after missing state by 40 pins as a junior.
"I strung some strikes together and tried to pick up all my spares and just hope for the best,'' Patterson said. "I only had four spares throughout the three games, the rest were strikes.''
The 6A state meet will be contested next Thursday at the Bowlero-Northrock, with the boys tournament starting at 8:25 a.m. and the girls to follow at 1:15 p.m.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL BOWLING
At West Ridge
BOYS
Team scores
Mill Valley 3,472, Olathe Northwest 3,445, Gardner-Edgerton 3,440, Junction City 3,411, Olathe West 3,313, Washburn Rural 3,291, Manhattan 3.252, Lawrence 3,085, Lawrence Free State 3,027, Topeka High 2,952, Wichita Southeast 2,851, Kansas City-Wyandotte 2,128.
Individual results
1. Jesse Holtcamp, Junction City, 728; 2. Ethan Diehl, Mill Valley, 715; 3. Brayden Miller, Olathe Northwest, 706; 4. Kadin Feuerborn, Gardner-Edgerton, 691; 5. Thomas Patterson, Topeka High, 682; 6. Adam Hemker, Free State, 674; 7. Cody Spangler, Washburn Rural, 664; 8. Evan Slife, Gardner-Edgerton, 646; 9. Graesyn Hoss, Lawrence, 644; 10. Simon Clark, Olathe Northwest, 643.
Individual state qualifiers -- Jesse Holtcamp, Junction City, 728; Thomas Patterson, Topeka High, 682; Adam Hemker, Free State, 674; Cody Spangler, Washburn Rural, 664; Graesyn Hoss, Lawrence, 644; Hayden Galeski, Olathe West, 642.
Other Washburn Rural -- Jackson Keller 617, Brennan Inloes 580, Tyler Faurot 576, Logan Glinka 565, Conner Ahrens 563.
Other Topeka High -- Austin Mitchell 603, Adam Krohe 488, Travis Shyne 448, Avery Donaldson 446, Miles Barnes 302.
GIRLS
Team scores
Washburn Rural 3,040, Olathe Northwest 2,988, Mill Valley 2,988, Junction City 2,872, Olathe West 2,788, Wichita Southeast 2,632, Lawrence Free State 2,381, Manhattan 2,370, Lawrence 2,316, Gardner-Edgerton 2,262, Topeka High 2,177, KC-Wyandotte 1,613.
Individual results
1. Ali Glasscock, Olathe Northwest, 656; 2. Layla Gonzalez, Mill Valley, 639; 3. Myranda Rogers, Gardner-Edgerton, 600; 4. Angelina Tichenor, Junction City, 598; 5. Claire Ireland, Washburn Rural, 595; 6. Karma Bitner, Olathe West, 588; 7. Skyler Holmes, Olathe Northwest, 580; 8. Alyssa Brantley, Wichita Southeast, 574; 9. Kiara Gonzalez, Mill Valley, 574; 10. Lexie Eberle, Olathe West, 562.
Individual state qualifiers -- Myranda Rogers, Gardner-Edgerton, 600; Angelina Tichenor, Junction City, 598; Karma Bitner, Olathe West, 588; Alyssa Brantley, Wichita Southeast, 574; Lexie Eberle, Olathe West, 562; Grace Radi, Manhattan, 541.
Other Washburn Rural -- Megan Glinka 550, Elizabeth Poling 547, Gabby Martinez 537, Camrynn Ahrens 502, Ashley Billups 493.
Other Topeka High -- Aleshia White 478, Kayda Villanueva 412, Gaviena Frank 369, Greci Carlos-Oliveros 347, Rylee Salts 322, Molly Meseke 248.
