By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Throughout the 2021 season Bob Benoit never thought his Seaman girls bowling team felt the pressure of being undefeated ... until Thursday.
Trying to cap a perfect season with a Class 5A-1A state championship, the Vikings finished fourth in the team standings at Northrock Lanes while junior Makenzie Millard led three Viking individual medalists with a fourth-place finish, bowling a 612 series.
Makenzie Millard finished 4th individually in the 5A-1A state bowling tournament, rolling a 612 series. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Bishop Carroll turned in a dominating performance, with Kaylee Back claiming the individual title with a 734 series while the Eagles won the team championship by a 3,347-3,188 margin over Great Bend.
Benoit had an inkling early on that his Vikings were fighting the battle of nerves, and not necessarily winning.
"I saw girls literally just sitting there shaking before we even started,'' Benoit said. "I was trying to get them to calm down, but there were a lot of emotions before we even started and I think that played a big part in what happened. It looked like they were kind of pressing and they weren't as loose as they were normally, but we had a great year and we have nothing to be ashamed of.''
Junior Kaitlyn Evans, who finished 9th with a 599 series, agreed with Benoit that Seaman just didn't have its 'A' game in the state meet.
"I feel like we were a little off,'' Evans said. "We had I think three people that this is their first time at state, so nerves did get in the way. I think we did pretty good -- fourth is not bad at all. It's pretty amazing, so I'm really proud of my team.''
Seaman junior Kaitlyn Evans finished 9th individually in the 5A-1A state bowling tournament with a 599 series. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Millard moved up a spot individually after finishing 5th as a sophomore, putting together games of 232, 159 and 221.
"I'm just glad that our whole team stayed positive,'' Millard. "I'm happy with what I did. I bet (the other Seaman girls) are happy with what they did. At the end of the day we did as good as we possibly could.''
Viking freshman Cheyenne Turkin earned a 16th-place finish with a 549 series while sophomore Katie Price was 31st (496), senior Alaina Roberson 39th (486) and senior Alex Tremblay 61st (427).
Shawnee Heights finished 7th as a team while senior Brylee Prockish earned a 20th-place state medal with a 540 series.
Senior Maggie Stadler finished 48th for Heights (458) while junior Karli Gilliland placed 51st (454), junior Samara Colon 59th (436), junior Laura El-Koubysi 62nd (425) and sophomore Katelyn Willey 66th (421).
Topeka West freshman Megan Wood finished 50th as an individual with a 455 series while Hayden senior Kayla Simons was 65th (421) and Wildcat senior senior Isabella Valdivia 80th (364).
Back and Great Bend's Paige Wagner stole the day individually, with Wagner bowling a third-game 289 to finish with a 725 series, just 9 pins behind Back. Wagner and Back are both juniors.
CLASS 5A-1A STATE BOWLING
Team scores
Bishop Carroll 3,347, Great Bend 3,188, Eisenhower 3,151, Seaman 3,035, Augusta 2,857, Salina South 2,762, Shawnee Heights 2,637, Leavenworth 2,393, Mill Valley 2,389, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 2,182.
Individual results
1. Kaylee Back, Bishop Carroll, 734; 2. Paige Wagner, Great Bend, 725; 3. Kensley Morris, Eisenhower, 619; 4. Makenzie Millard, Seaman, 612 (232); 5. Kassidy Miller, Augusta, 612 (220); 6. Lacey Wise, Bishop Carroll, 606; 7. Hong Nguyen, Bishop Carroll, 604; 8. Darby Guinn, Eisenhower, 601; 9. Kaitlyn Evans, Seaman, 599; 10. Sarai Alvarado, Augusta, 590; 11. Ellie Warden, Eisenhower, 588; 12. Kylee Busch, McPherson, 574; 13. Bailey Wise, Bishop Carroll, 569; 14. Nicole Griffin, Great Bend, 567; 15. Adria Huiett, Buhler, 560; 16. Cheyenne Turkin, Seaman, 549; 17. Saraha Rziah, Great Bend, 548; 18. Stella Gestl,, Salina South, 546; 19. Andrienne Pamatmat, Wichita Trinity Academy, 542; 20. Bryee Prockish, Shawnee Heights, 540.
Other Seaman -- 31. Katie Price, 496; 39. Alaina Roberson, 486; 61. Alex Tremblay, 427.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 48. Maggie Stadler, 458; 51. Karli Gilliland, 454; 59. Samara Colon, 436; 62. Laura El-Koubysi, 425; 66. Katelyn Willey, 421.
Topeka West -- 50. Megan Wood, 455.
Hayden -- 65. Kayla Simons, 421; 80. Isabella Valdivia, 364.
