The Oxford Boys’ and girls’ varsity bowling teams traveled to Century Lanes to participate in the 2024 regional event. Teams would need to finish in the top 2 and singles in the top 7 to move on to vie for a state title. This region had strong teams from Utica, Utica Eisenhower, Waterford Mott, Lake Orion, Southfield and North Farmington to content with.
The Boys struggled in the team event. They fought the tough oil pattern and missed too many spares but battled to the end. They finished in the 5th spot out of 13 teams. In singles they fared much better. Freshman Eli Wright punched his ticket to the state finals earning a 3rd place finish. Several other bowlers made a great run at moving on but fell just short. Junior Jacob Kemenah finished 9th 18 pins out of the final spot and fellow junior Nate Alexander finished 12th just 61 pins out.
The Girls held the second spot throughout the event and qualified for the team state finals holding on to it at the end. In singles several girls were around the cut line all day but at the end only Senior Kiley Penzien made the cut in the 7th spot. Sophomore Kaitlyn McFadden missed by 17 pins finishing 8th and Senior Kaya Coffman finished 39 pins out finishing 10th. All 7 of the Oxford girls finished in the top 20 out of the 53 bowlers.
The girls team, Kiley and Eli all compete for the state crown at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park next Friday and Saturday.
“It was a very emotional weekend for sure. The kids left it all out on the lanes and I’m excited we extended the season for another week. We have a very deep team and I really can’t wait to see them in Allen Park.”