Wednesday was the individual competition at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing.  The Panthers had a good showing on Wednesday, unfortunately none of the varsity boys or girls finished in the top 7 to advance to the individual state competition.

 

For the boys, senior Buster Marr led the way, earning a 14th place finish with a total of 1108 and averaging just over 184 for the competition.  Buster found himself within striking distance heading into the final game, needing to shoot about 240-250 to push into the top 7, but couldn’t get consistent carry in his final game, shooting 166 and missing the cut.  He bowled over his season average for the day and kept himself in contention shooting games between 179-209 for his first five games in a fine showing for his final regionals.

 

He was followed by Nolan Woodworth (21st), RJ Schafer (24th), Austin Ball (25th), Reed Vallie (46th) and John Prater (49th)

 

For the girls, Madason McDonald led the way for the Lady Panthers, finishing in 20th place while averaging over 20 pins higher per game from her regular season average.  Madason was consistent all day long and bolstered by a big 196 in game 2 and was consistently over her average all day long.

 

She was followed by Gaby Semenchuk (31st), Mya Caraballo (34th), Ashlynn Kurtz (38th), Kiley Bieskie (40th) and Marley Naegele (56th). This was also the final regionals for senior Ashlynn Kurtz.  Ashlynn has shown tremendous improvement during her career and continued to do so at the individual competition, firing a big 192 in game 3 to push her up the leaderboard during the middle of the competition.

 

The regional team event took place on Thursday at City Limits in Mason.  Both the guys and the girls were hungry to build on their solid finishes at City Limits just a few weeks prior at the Leslie Baker tournament.  The top two teams for varsity girls and boys would advance to the state tournament next week.

 

The Varsity boys started off strong in their Baker block, shooting 175 off the bat and stayed relatively consistent throughout the 8 Baker games, but a 118 finish to the Bakers put them in a bit of a hole to climb out of to push into the top 2.  Needing a big finish in the final two regular games, the boys played well, but weren’t able to generate the momentum they needed to climb into the top 2.  The boys finished in 9th place on the day, bringing their season to an end.

 

The Varsity girls got off to a slow start in their baker block, but bounced back in game 3 with a 151 game to build some momentum, but they weren’t able to get the pins to fall their way as they moved through the block.  The regular games saw the girls continue to put their best foot forward and keep pushing, shooting games of 588 and 675, but it wasn’t enough to push into the top 2.  The ladies finished in 10th place at the region, bringing their season to an end as well.

 

As a final recap, this has been a season of improvement, filled with ups and downs.  The Varsity boys pulled off a victory against Northwest early in this season, a huge accomplishment to take down our rivals who typically field a strong team that competes for state titles.  They finished 6-8 on the year and added a 4th place finish in the Leslie Baker Tournament..  The boys will miss senior Buster Marr as he moves on, but with the improvement across the board they have shown look to make some noise in the I-8 next season.

 

The girls got off to a good start as well earning wins over Lumen Christi and Jackson High and as well as Eaton Rapids towards the middle of our season.  The girls finished 3-11 on the season, added an awesome 2nd place finish at the Leslie Baker Tournament, and improved as bowlers along the way.  They will miss graduating seniors Ashlynn Kurtz and Mya Melchert, but are poised to make a push next season in the I-8.