Both the Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity bowling teams competed in the 2024 county championships this past weekend. The boys competed against 26 teams and the girls faced off against 25. Several teams were unable to attend due to the weather.
The girls were solid in qualifying and ended up the 5th seed. Qualifying consisted of 3 full team games and 4 baker games. During qualifying Senior Co-Captain Kiley Penzien led the way with a 573 series and a 239-game earning her 2 medals.
When bracket play started the Wildcats faced off against 12 seed Hazel Park. Bracket play was total score of 2 baker games. The Wildcat girls beat the Vikings by a mere 3 pins. They then beat Walled Lake Northern the 4 seed 318 to 294. This pitted the Cats against their OAA rival and 8 seeded Clarkston. Oxford won 333 to 301 to advance into the finals against the number 2 seed Bishop Foley.
In the Finals the Wildcats got off to a big lead winning game 1 by 23 pins. Then the very talented Bishop Foley team shot a very impressive 223 game to Oxfords 144 to capture the title.
“This was a very good day for our ladies. Everyone contributed and we bowled well as a team. Several times we got behind and rallied back. We still have room for improvement but these girls work hard and we will continue to grow. We defeated some real good teams and should feel very good about our performance.”
The boys came out of the gate rolling well in their qualifying portion. They held the 1 seed for most of the day and ended the day as the 2 seed behind Waterford Mott. Two Wildcats were awarded medals as Jacob Kemenah medaled twice with a 255 game and a 644 series. Jacob Chouinard also medaled with a fine 672 series.
The Cats faced off against a young talented Lakeland team in round 1. Lakeland came out with a 222 to Oxfords 202 and held a 20-pin lead. The teams went back and forth in the next game and the Wildcats beat them 195 to 193. The Cats didn’t make up the 20-pin deficit and ended the Wildcats run. The Wildcats had won the title the past 2 years and battled like champions. Lakeland went on to take 3rd in the event.
“This surely wasn’t the way we wanted the day to end. Lakeland did a great job and deserved the win. I was very impressed by our performance today. We bowled very well all day and a couple of shots one way or another and we could have moved on. It wasn’t our day but I know that we will learn from this loss. This team showed great tenacity and grit today. We will use this to fuel us the remainer of the year.”