Bowlers on a Roll at State Tournament
Lincoln’s Hannah Duver won the girls individual title at the 2017 Iowa State Coed Bowling Tournament.
Historically, bowling has been considered a blue-collar recreation. For many years at the high school level, it ranked right alongside a night at the movies as a traditional dating activity. Then somebody came up with what’s turned out to be the great idea of making it an interscholastic sport. Ever since, it’s been on a roll.
Wednesday morning the Iowa State Coed Class 3A Bowling Tournament was the latest demonstration of a spectating phenomenon, and brought home a state title for Lincoln’s Hannah Duver.
Sixteen teams from around the state and their rowdy rooters packed Plaza Lanes in Des Moines to the point where postings from the fire marshal were required to remind the crowd to maintain adequate walkways.
Both the Lincoln High girls, making their 4th consecutive appearance at state, and the Roosevelt boys were there representing the host district.
Prior to the ceremonial parade of bowlers and introductions the PA system was frequently heard announcing the readiness of refreshments: “#86, your breakfast burritos are ready at the snack bar…#90, your eggwich…”
The etiquette at golf tournaments and chess matches may call for funereal silence so the competitors may concentrate, but bowling is boisterous. You’d better be able not only to hook it squarely into the pocket, but to do so while blocking out shattering pins in the adjacent lane and the roars they elicit from the corresponding cheering section.
Lincoln brought a conspicuous squad of cheerleaders along to boost their output of strikes and spares. The boys’ team was there, in attention-getting uniform, and made its presence felt. Nor were the girls themselves bashful about encouraging one another. Smartly clad in black jeans and maroon polos with white ribbons tied in their hair, whenever a teammate toppled ten at a time, “WHAT TIME”? STRIKE TIME”! was shouted in unison.
The ball return racks were fully loaded with what resembled a giant’s marble collection, colorful assortments of the tools of the trade. Naturally, at this level, the participants don’t just show up and select from the alley’s inventory of balls and shoes. They bring their own, old reliables. And the scores quickly mount. Splits convert into difficult spares, and Xs string together on the scoresheets.
Three lanes down from the Lincoln girls the Roosevelt boys were easy to locate in their khakis and navy blue. Strikes flew like sparks spraying into the crowd, producing the same reactions three-pointers and dunks do at basketball games.
By the 5th frame of the day the din was so loud that calls to pick up pizzas, French fries and chicken strips, as appetites transitioned from breakfast to lunch, could barely be heard.
When the dust of the splintered pins settled, Lincoln’s Hannah Duver was at the top of the individual standings on the girls’ side with a sparkling two-game total of 500 (a score that none of the boys topped!). She attends school at Indianola, which doesn’t have a bowling team, and so competes as a Rail. Coached by Ray Felton, Hannah was joined by teammates Sara Byers (freshman), Brittney Miller (sophomore), Ilda Herrera (senior), Jessica Hall (senior) and Morgan Hamell (senior). Lincoln finished 5th in the team standings.
The Roosevelt boys were paced by freshman Alden Andreasen’s score of 434. Coached by Barry Thomas, the rest of the team included Sam Kennedy (junior), Austin Andreasen (senior), Zavion Caldwell (junior), Hunter Gloden (freshman) and Aaron Kleinhasselink (sophomore). The Riders finished 8th in the team standings, but look for the team laden with underclassmen to be back.
East junior Dylan McFarland also qualified as an individual and finished 29th with a total score of 388.
