By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg varsity bowling teams had a better-than-average turnout of players this season.
“We had a couple of younger sophomores step up and bowl from the JV team to varsity this year,” Head Coach James Myers said. The boys’ team had 12 bowlers this year; the girls team fielded 11, which was dramatically up from the usual four or five.
The boys’ team was slightly better than the girls, finishing ninth in team regionals. In the individual portion, sophomore Regan Powell was the top finisher. He came in 17th place with a total of 1,091 pins. Fellow sophomore Tristan Bierema finished 39th with 1,003 pins. Senior Trenton VanderBor finished 43 with 974 pins.
For the Lady Bulldogs, senior Samantha Cox was the top finisher. She finished in 40th place with 847 pins. Sophomores Kassidee Root and Mykah Zehner were the next highest finishers at 45th and 56th with 822 and 773 pins respectively.
Although no one from either team earned a trip to state this year, Myers said the girls showed great improvement from the last and won several matches. He said probably the biggest overall highlight of the year was the boys getting a victory over Portage Northern in their Southwest Michigan Bowling Conference Saturday League, a league their opponent eventually won.