Bowling: It Was a Week of Ups and Downs for the Redhawks in Louisville
Nick Parker anchored an up and down performance, that ended on the upside this week in Louisville. The Redhawks had a rough start, sitting in 14th place after the first 2 games of qualifying. “ They just weren’t seeing the lanes correctly” said coach Titus. The guys worked hard, got settled down and worked their way into 5th place by the end of the qualifying.
Sunday started out very similar to Saturday. The lanes were tough and a lot of the teams were struggling. With the scores fairly low the Redhawks hung in there. There was some personnel changes and some line-up moving before the team hit there stride. With the 4 game position round to go, the Redhawks had kept themselves in contention to make a move with a big set. The first game of the set was a 247. The Redhawks had the attention of the teams around them. Game 2 was less than stellar, and the hopes of the big position change had seemingly vanished. With some steady bowling, other than a few missed spares, they slipped by two of the top 5 teams and moved into 3rd place. “ It was good to see them come out of that little funk they were in” said Coach Wright. “ Norm and I work hard at trying to keep the guys and the girls both on an even keel.”
Coach Titus said “we got a small nucleus of guys that have bowled together for 3 years now and they are starting to get the team concept. They are seeing the lanes better each week. We can only hope that this will spill over onto the underclassmen.” Nick Parker finished 25th in the tournament with a 194.17 average, followed by Sean Rutherford finishing 32nd with a 190.17 average and Brandon Tate with a 186 average.
The girls also came home with another top 5 finish. They also struggled a bit in the early stages of the tournament. However, like the guys they got somewhat straightened out and ended up with a 4th place finish. “ The ladies are going through some growing pains and we think they are on the verge of breaking out" said Coach Titus. They were again anchored by a stellar performance from Hayley Beavis, averaging 209 for the 6 games of qualifying and finishing 2nd in the tournament. Courtney Spaulding (16th,184.83 average) and LeAudra Byrd (21st, 183.83 average) also helped propel the Redhawks to their 4th place finish.