William Penn Defends NAIA West Regional Crown
Lawrence, Kan.–The Statesmen women’s bowling team strung together a pair of strong days to again claim the title at the NAIA West Regional #1 and #2 Saturday and Sunday.
In a unique format, the event was split into two separate tournaments, with each day featuring head-to-head matchups against other programs. The team with the best match play record at the end of the weekend was crowned champion. Total pinfall was used if a tiebreaker was necessary.
In Saturday’s five individual games, WPU was third in total pinfall with 4,553 pins and a 4-1 match play record.
On Sunday (25 Baker games), the navy and gold again managed a 4-1 match play record with 4,571 pins for a final weekend tally of 9,124 pins. The Statesmen tied three other programs with an 8-2 record, but had more than 400 pins than any other squad to take the title via tiebreaker.
The crown is William Penn’s first of the year and first since also winning the NAIA Regional West weekend event last season.
Rachel Moore of Culver-Stockton topped Saturday’s individual standings with 1,102 pins (220.4 average).
Brianna Thompson (Jr., Campbellsport, Wis., Psychology and Sociology) was WPU’s leader on varsity, placing 18th with a 186.4 average, while Ashley Gorman (So., Stillwater, Minn., Exercise Science) was three spots behind her in 21st with a 183.2 average.
Lucy Mitchell (Jr., Poulsbo, Wash., Psychology and Human Services) just missed the top 25 as she averaged 179.4 pins in five games.
Alyssa Tanner (Fr., Traverse City, Mich., Sports Management) owned a 189.5 mark in four rounds, while Kelcey Aczon-Kawamura (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Nursing) had a 196.3 average over three starts.
Alaina Degenstein (Fr., Tacoma, Wash., Nursing), with a 153.5 clip (two games), and Danielle Fincham (Jr., Surprise, Ariz., Exercise Science), with 154 pins in her only game, wrapped up the varsity lineup.
Hannalee Songer (So., Ottumwa, Iowa, Business Management) was William Penn’s best bowler across both the varsity and JV crews as she finished seventh overall with a 195.6 average. The reserve squad, which unfortunately did not win any of its match play competitions, recorded 6,598 pins to place fourth out of four schools.
“The ladies bowled great all weekend,” Head Coach Kirstin Foster said. “Communication and energy were on point, which reflected in their performance. They have been working hard all season to become the team they know they can be, so it is nice to see it start to come together.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Indianapolis, Ind. Saturday and Sunday as it wraps up its regular season at the Hoosier Classic.
