Participating in its' first ever NJCAA Championships, the upstart Barton Community College women's bowling team placed national runner-up with the men eighth this past weekend at the AMF Airport Lanes in Cheektowaga, New York, as the Cougars also garnered the program's first national champion and All-American award.
The women's team led the nineteen team field after day one of the competition, compiling a twenty-pin lead after Thursday's singles and doubles competition. Returning Friday for the first block of the 5-man games (first three games of six, the Cougars posted a 545 with a 542 follow-up in Saturday's second block (last three games of six) in slipping into third place. Barton erased a 227 pin deficit in the final event of the competition, rolling the two highest scores in the three-block Baker games of 598 and 610 with a 541 sandwiched in between, to post a combined 12,113 and 107 pins more in the Baker than Iowa Central Community College who captured the title 44 pins ahead of the Cougars.
Barton's men's squad compiled 11,724 pins as Rock Valley College claimed the team title among the twenty-two entrants, knocking down 13571 pins avenging last season's runner-up finish with Iowa Central coming in third with 13131 pins.
Women's Recap
Alexandria Newell inked the program's first individual championship, compiling a 605 in Thursday's singles competition. Newell moved up the leaderboard following an opening 192 with 224 and 189 games to best the 94-member field by thirteen pins. Faith Whited joined Newell in the top ten, bouncing back from a 163 to roll a 219 and 174 for a 6th place 556 total.
Allison Brodrick had a solid first day of competition with even better final two stages to earn All-American status and etch her name in Barton history. Placing 29th in singles competition with a 502 (162-144-196, Broderick rolled a 526 (186-162-178) in doubles to complete the day. In the first block of the 5-man games, Brodrick knocked down 545 on Friday with Saturday's second block and back-end of the six-game set producing a 542, accumulating 2,115 pins over twelve games for a 6th best 176.3 average.
In doubles action Whited paired with Taylor Cessna for a fourth place finish out of forty-four pairs in rolling a combined 1,034 six-game score. Cessna led the pair with a 549 (185-194-170) while Whited knocked down 485 (117-160-208). Brodrick's 526 and Erin Mayfield's 486 (137-147-202) earned a 10th place finish with the duo combining for 1,012 pins as just eleven total pairs eclipsed the 1000 combined total.
Women's Individual Single Scores and Placings
1st Alexandria Newell: 192, 224, 189 – Series: 605
6th Faith Whited: 163, 219, 174 – Series: 556
15th Lauren Lust: 218, 176, 147 – Series: 541
19th Taylor Cessna: 182, 160, 188 – Series: 530
29th Allison Brodrick: 162, 144, 196 and Erin Mayfield: 146, 199, 157 – Series: 502
45th Alexis Leon: 154, 136, 162 – Series: 452
75th Ashley Dykes: 132, 147, 124 – Series: 403
Men's Recap
After day one of competition, Barton found themselves in seventh place tallying 7722 total pins just five back of Suffolk Community College after the trio of singles, doubles and five-man action.
Freshman Alec Roberts pieced together a pair of solid day performances leading Barton individually to an eighteen performance in the 120-man field blasting 2184 pins in twelve games averaging 182 per ten frames. The freshman rolled a fifth best singles score of 624 falling just twenty-two pins shy of singles national champion Derik Lisi's 666 mark.
Fellow Great Bend native Jordan Black finished two-spots back of Roberts tossing 2157 pins averaging 179.8 per series.
Struggling in singles, Creyton Nisly and Tracey Hill rallied with stout double performances as the pair combined for a team best 1079 pins leading the Cougars double four pack to a fifteenth place showing.
Also making a strong doubles run was Jacob Holden and Benjamin Banks stringing together a twenty-third showing posting 1024 pins finishing two spots ahead of Black and Roberts 1014 total.
Faltering two spots in Saturday's competition, the tandem of Black and Roberts continued to consume the hot hand for the Cougars as the twosome finished with team bests 1135 and 1025 respectively rolling Barton to a tenth place showing in the five man games.
Entering the final event consisting of nine baker games in three separate blocks, the Cougars tossed the fourth highest score in the opening block rattling 580 pins. However the climb up the latter in the final two blocks would fade posting scores of 434 and 520 for the thirteenth and eighth best marks finishing with the eighth best baker score of 1534.
Individual Single Scores and Placings
4th Alec Roberts: 221, 192, 211 – Series: 624
35th Jordan Black: 197, 164, 182 – Series: 543
42nd Jacob Holden: 195, 147, 192 – Series: 534
62nd Dalton Lowe: 170, 185, 154 – Series: 509
93rd Creyton Nisly: 150, 153, 162 – Series: 465
94th Tracey Hill: 150, 165, 146 – Series: 461
96th Devin Palmer: 151, 142, 167 – Series: 460
111th Benjamin Banks: 131, 158, 133 – Series: 422