Second Place for Women in Kansas
Kansas–The William Penn women’s bowling team played at the Jayhawk Challenge over the weekend and came away with a great result. Finishing second over the qualifying rounds Saturday, the team battled hard on Sunday, but could not overcome the rival Grand View Vikings, concluding the weekend with the second-place trophy.
Gabi Evans (So., West Liberty, Iowa, Psychology & Sociology) led the Statesmen as she finished third in the individual category, with a pin average of 188.8. She made her second all-tournament team in consecutive events.
With six teams in the field and 67 bowlers, William Penn led through the first four games. They set the tone with a great score of 966 in the first game, following that with scores of 908, 809, 890, and 838. In the fifth game, Baker put up a 993 to take the lead and despite a booming 975 in response, WPU’s 5,386 total pin count put them in second behind the Wildcats, who had 5,466.
Evans had a high score of 223 to go along with a 202 over her six games as she collected 1,133 pins over day one. Haylee Schwark (Fr., Beaver Dam, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) was next for the Statesmen, with a pin average of 183.7 to finish in eighth. Her high score was a 223 and she also had two scores of 201.
Destiny Rottman (Jr., Coal Valley, Ill., Digit Communication) finished in 12th with an average of 178.2, with her high schore being a 193. Cydnee Whiteleather (Fr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Elementary Education) finished 14th with an average of 174.7 as she produced a high score of 237, the team high on the day.
Evie Roen (Jr., Troy, Mich., Applied Mathematics) rolled five games for the navy and gold, putting up an average of 164.4, with her high score being a 184. Shaydn Bishop (Fr., Grandview, Iowa, Exercise Science) delivered a 212 in her only game on day one.
With the number two seed in hand, WPU entered Sunday knowing the Braves of Ottawa (Kan.) were waiting for them. The team had to fight the Braves the whole way, but the Statesmen pulled out the sweep 2-0 to advance to the final. The Vikings stood in the way and despite a close match, GV would knock off the navy and gold in two games to claim first place. WPU settled for silver, but continued its run of podium finishes on the season; the team has not finished worse than third through three events.
The varsity reserve side also played well on the weekend, finishing in fourth place Saturday, only nine pins behind Baker, with a score of 4,440. Miranda Pelant (Jr., Waterville, Minn., General Accounting) led the team with an average of 167.5, good for 17th overall. Emily Eikenberry (Fr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Computer Science) was second on the team with an average of 159, coming home in 21st. The team overall finished in fourth place after bracket play Sunday.
“The girls showed a lot of grit today with the struggles we had at the beginning of the day,” said Head Coach Brandon Brooks. “We got back on track and stuck together and had a big set in the position round to widen the gap between us and Ottawa. Match play is exciting, but it really evens the playing field. Even though we beat Grand View by over 300 pins total, they were able to throw some big games when they needed to in order to win. This team is going places. They learned a lot this weekend and have showed improvements every week on the lanes. We are excited for our future.”
Next Up: The Statesmen will return to the lanes in January as they will participate in the Kegel/ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic in Addison, Ill., on January 16-17.
