By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman and Topeka West dominated Tuesday's Class 5A girls bowling regional at West Ridge Lanes, with the Vikings and Chargers combining for one-two team and individual finishes.
Seaman, the defending 5A-1A state team champion, won the regional team title by by a 2,968-2,705 margin over Topeka West while Charger junior Megan Wood won the individual championship with a 629 three-game series while Seaman junior JaeLinn Thetford finished second with a 602 series.
Seaman's girls bowling team, the defending Class 5A-1A state champion, won Tuesday's regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes by 263 pins. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West's girls bowling team advanced to next Thursday's Class 5A-1A state tournament with a second-place finish in Tuesday's regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West's Brennna Rutschmann finished sixth with a 552 series while Seaman's Cheyenne Turkin posted a sixth-place individual finish with a 547 series.
With Tuesday's victory Seaman earned its opportunity to defend its state championhip next Thursday at Northrock Lanes in Wichita and Viking coach Bob Benoit was pleased with Tuesday's regional perfomance.
"We've got two freshmen on the team and they were scared to death,'' Benoit said. "And for them to perform like they did today was great. We had a couple of other girls struggling and JaeLinn was struggling with her 10 pins today but they finally regrouped and everything that they did, that's the sign of a champion.
"I feel pretty good (going into state), but we've still got to take it one frame at a time, one game at a time and we're going to work really, really hard the rest of the week. We've got some spare issues we've got to work on a little bit, but we're going to get there.''
Topeka West junior Megan Wood shot a 629 series, with a high game of 255, to win the individual title in Tuesday's Class 6A-5A regional bowling tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West's Wood, a returning state medalist, has been fighting a knee injury, but put together games of 210, 164 and a final-game 255 to take indiviual honors by 27 pins over Seaman's Thetford.
"I feel great, today felt amazing,'' Wood said. "After I shot that 164 game I was like, 'I've got to get it back,' and I had those front straight strikes and I was on Cloud Nine and I knew I had that win.''
Wood said it was a big bonus that West qualified as a team.
"We picked each other up when we were down and it felt great,'' Wood said. "We did it as a team and I'm just so proud.''
Wood finished 13th at state a year ago and said she's confident going into next week.
"I just want to go out and do my best, do what I can and control what I can,'' she said.
The girls state tournament will get under way at 8:50 a.m. next Thursday, March 2.
CLASS 5A-1A REGIONAL GIRLS BOWLING
At West Ridge Lanes
Team scores
Seaman 2,968, Topeka West 2,705, Emporia 2,675, Augusta 2.592, Basehor-Linwood 2,566, De Soto 2,404, Circle 2,389, Hayden 2,368, El Dorado 2,211, Ottawa 2,192, Chanute 2,101, Newton 2,097, Shawnee Heights 2,071, Highland Park 2,025, McPherson 1,950.
Individual results
1. Megan Wood, Topeka West, 629; 2. JaeLinn Thetford, Seaman, 602; 3. Olivia Boettcher, Emporia, 572; 4. Ellyse Findley, Basehor-Linwood, 564; 5. Alli Eastridge, Augusta, 556; 6. Brenna Rutschmann, Topeka West, 552; 7. Kirsin Ussery, Basehor-Linwood, 548; 8. Cheyenne Turkin, Seaman, 547; 9. Kira Lynch, De Soto, 519; 10. Julie Steeb, De Soto, 511.
Other Seaman -- Katie Price 505, Kayla Mize 492, Claire LaDuke 466, Laci Cole 424.
Other Topeka West -- Karlee Gilbreath 459, Reagan Kell 438, Hannah Allen 390, Jordyn Felsburg 321.
Hayden -- Ashley Lee 492, Emily Ireland 461, Emily Peterson 428, Emily Lee 420, Alyssa Droge 396, Jenna Henkensiefken 320.
Shawnee Heights -- Rachel Donaldson 403, Alicia Anderson 382, Jasmine Villalobos 381, Reese Bell 365, Keira Scott 351, Bailey Liby 294.
Highland Park -- Jackie Perez 425, Corina Roberts 401, Judea Shannon 386, Phoenix Snyder 293, Kaylie Barnes 285, Desiree' Love 223.
