NHS bowling teams sweep Little Hawkeye Conference meet

Newton High’s Cardinal bowling teams each worked through a few bumps during Saturday’s Little Hawkeye Conference meet. The NHS girls and boys still had a large pin-count lead over the other teams going into the Baker Games round.

The Cardinal teams claimed their third straight LHC meet championships on their home lanes as the seven conference teams competed at Cardinal Lanes.

“The bowling alley was packed and the fans fueled the excitement in the room,” Newton head coach Seth Banwell said. “Our bowlers stayed clam and remained focused.”

Newton’s girls won by a 280-pin count, 2,261, over second-place Bondurant-Farrar, 1,981. The NHS boys rolled up a 2,649 final pin count to win by 142 pins over second-place Oskaloosa, 2,507.

In the girls’ division, Pella finished third with 1,917 followed by Oskaloosa at 1,881, Knoxville at 1,814, Norwalk at 1,777 and Pella Christian at 1,574. Knoxville was third in the boys’ competition with a 2,395 followed by Pella at 2,373, Norwalk at 2,344, Bondurant-Farrar at 2,068 and Pella Christian at 2,032.

“They did an incredible job facing tough opponents — some that beat us during the regular season,” Banwell said of the Cardinal bowlers. “However, our teams prevailed today. It’s great seeing the growth of the team throughout the season and have it pay off at the conference meet. I’m extremely proud of the kids and how well they competed.”

Before the bowling action began, the 2017 all-conference honors were announced. Newton’s sophomore Alicia Miller and junior Shaiden Simmons were named to the all-LHC first team. Taking second-team honors were seniors Reid Miller, Sam Supino and Lizzy Coyle. Earning honorable mention honors were juniors Alyssa White and Kaytie Hughes and sophomore Taylor Johnson.

Reid Miller said he was disappointed in his own performance on the day, bowling a 255 on games of 112 and 143. Miller, who along with Simmons has been on the boys’ varsity team all three years, did not bowl in the Baker Games round for the Cardinals.

“It feels good to be conference champions again, even though I didn’t play a big role in it. It’s a team sport so I’m glad my teammates had good days today so we could win the title again,” Reid Miller said.

This was the second championship team for junior Reece Thurmond and Supino. Simmons led the Newton boys with a 393, rolling a 203 in his first game and a 190 in the second. Thurmond finished with a 377 after throwing a team-best 205 in the first game and a 172 in the second.

Junior Austin Johansen had a 363 (166-197) and freshman Alex Frymoyer put up a 354 (168-186). Supino shot a 343 on games of 186 and 157.

The Cardinal boys led Knoxville by 249 pins, Pella by 250 pins and Oskaloosa by 254 pins heading into the Baker Game round. Newton and Oskaloosa were bowling side-by-side throughout the meet. The Indians bowling a meet-high 931 in the Baker Games.

Newton stayed out in front with a 819 during the Baker Games on scores of 144, 174, 176, 186 and 139. Oskaloosa shaved the margin of victory down to 142 pins.

Only one bowler for the Cardinal girls has been on all three conference championship teams — White. White had a 300 Saturday on games of 165 and 135. Coyle is the lone senior on the girls’ team and on her second straight title team.

“It feels amazing,” Coyle said. “It’s kind of sad that I’m not going to be here next year. Today, I was hitting my marks today, but I was having trouble picking up my spares. As a team, we picked up each other along the way.”

Coyle said the girls struggled hitting the head pin during their individual games. She said the Cardinals did a lot better in the Baker Games, putting up scores of 122, 160, 138, 133 and 198.

Newton’s girls led second-place Bondurant-Farrar by 167 pins heading into the Baker Games round. They stretched their margin of victory to 280 pins.

Alica Miller paced the Cardinal girls with a 334 on games of 191 and 143. Coyle’s 325 was second with games of 126 and 199. Johnson finished with a 307 (133-174) followed by White.

Sophomore Keely Birkenholtz bowled a 244 (135-109) and junior Kaytie Hughes had a 199 (116-83).

Newton prepares for Tuesday’s Class 2A district meet. District 6 action begins at 10 a.m. at Champion Bowl in Ottumwa.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com