Cardiac Cards: Newton girls bowl past Denison-Schleswig to take regional title

The Newton girls’ bowling team had a banner day at Cardinal Lanes on Monday.

The Cardinals started their Class 2A state qualifier with a come-from-behind win in the team competition and then took half of the individual qualifying spots later in the day.

“I’m very excited. There’s definitely a feeling of accomplishment,” Newton’s Libbie Keith said. “We have big standards and expected to go. But, you never know.”

It certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion. The Cardinals went in front during the first three of 15 Baker games, but Denison-Schleswig was in the lead for seven straight games before Newton rallied late to claim another regional championship and stayed unbeaten on the season.

The Cardinals are headed to the girls state bowling tournament for the third straight season and the 11th time in school history.

“It feels phenomenal,” Newton head bowling coach Christie Hughes said. “They just got some momentum and a new pair of lanes. We have a different style of bowlers and the lanes matter with how they bowl. Once they got to a pair of lanes that most of our bowlers liked, it made a big difference.”

On the individual side, Beka Weithers and Genessa Slings were in the top five from the opening game.

The most consistent bowler in the center grabbed the individual championship though as Weithers rolled a 553 series and bested runner-up Maeci Williamson of Bondurant-Farrar by 62 pins.

Weithers will be joined in the individual portion of the state tournament by teammates Slings, Bailey Hansen and Keith, who all finished in the top eight.

“I didn’t know how I was doing at any point. Genessa threw a 206 so I knew she was up there,” Weithers said. “I was just trying to focus on myself, especially because I kept getting bad breaks. It was very unexpected.”

Weithers started with a 171 and got better as she went. She finished with a 187 and a 195. The key for Weithers was picking up spares.

“I did not expect that at all,” Weithers said. “Spares win championships so it was super important to pick those up.”

Her 195 included five strikes and five spares and she began her second game with eight straight spares and converted nine in all.

The opening 171 included three strikes and five spares.

“She is super consistent. She picked up every 10 pin except one, which is amazing,” Hughes said. “She just had a phenomenal day. I am super proud of her.”

Slings was in the lead after the first two games and Weithers and Hansen were third and seventh, respectively. Keith had to come from way back in the final game and snuck into the top eight after rolling a 179.

Slings’ 486 series included single games of 155, 206 and 125. Hansen opened with a 162 and finished with a 158 and a 149 for 469 series.

Slings was five pins back of Williamson in third. Keith trailed Hansen by five pins as they went seventh and eighth, respectively.

“I was so happy and so thrilled. I just wanted to cry. I had no idea I was third,” Slings said. “I really wanted to make it this year. I missed it by five pins last year so that was heartbreaking. I was really happy.”

It was not looking good for Keith after the second game, but Hughes told her she just needed one good game to get back in the mix. Her 179, which featured five strikes and four spares, turned out to be enough to clinch the final spot.

“I was the district champion the last two years, but you just have to be OK with not winning at that point,” Keith said. “I wanted to still make it and I knew I needed just one good game. I tried my best.

“I thought I was like ninth and Bailey was eighth. I have these big expectations for myself and not making it would have hurt. I just let the ball go and let it do what it’s supposed to do and hoped for the best.”

Hansen and Keith both were individual qualifiers last season. Hansen didn’t think she would be able to get back there this winter. But her 162 and 158 to start the series were important.

“I didn’t really think I had a shot this year,” Hansen said. “The start was important. Each of the games matter. Every pin you can get counts.”

The Cardinals’ other two individual bowlers were Gabbie Humphrey and Nevaeh Bown, who rolled a 416 and a 364, respectively. Humphrey had single games of 123, 143 and 150. Bown started slow with a 109 and finished with a 132 and a 123.

The top eight individuals and the top two teams advance to the state tournament next week.

Newton got out to an early lead in the 15 Baker games. The Cardinals rolled a 165, 184 and 182 to open and led 656 to 630 over Denison-Schleswig after three games.

The Monarchs rallied to go in front and held the advantage through 10 games. A 198 by Newton put the home team in front for good and the Cardinals completed their day with a 166, 147 and 188.

“Amazing, especially since the other team was ahead of us for a lot of it,” Weithers said about the regional championship. “We could have done better, but we did our best.”

Newton won the regional championship with a score of 2,430 using a combination of Weithers, Bown, Slings, Hansen, Keith and Humphrey. Olivia Pickerell was the team’s alternate for regionals and will be the alternate at the state tournament.

Denison-Schleswig (2,352), Bondurant-Farrar (2,121), Norwalk (2,067) and Dowling Catholic (1,915) completed the top five and Creston (1,820), Urbandale (1,804) and Des Moines Hoover (1,467) were the final three teams in the eight-team field.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Slings said. “We had some competition today, and we were down throughout the day but brought it back like we always do.”

The Cardinals bowl in the state team competition at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo.

The individual state tournament for 2A starts at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at Maples Lanes in Waterloo.

Joining the Cardinals at the team state competition will be LeMars (3,203), Keokuk (2,936), Council Bluffs Lewis Central (2,725), Central DeWitt (2,478), Decorah (2,458), Western Dubuque (2,351) and Denison-Schleswig (2,352).