By HANNAH NIEDERRITER
Student contributor
For the fourth time in 10 years, the Cranberry Bowling Team took first place in the League Championship after turning the tables and coming back from 2 losses.
Within the Cranberry area, there are two bowling teams: Maroon and White. Though these teams aren’t directly linked to Cranberry High School, several participants are members of Cranberry’s student body.
The students associated with the bowling teams include Ethan Baker, Seth Mellring, Sam Shaffer, Evan Goodman, Colton Campbell, Dylan Baker, Adam Cross, Preston Fenstermaker, and Aubrey Stewart. These participants are coached by Rob Ziegler, Dewey Stewart, Brian Huffman, and Jordan Huffman.
In order to qualify for the League Championship, bowling teams must perform well in a series of other competitions. To begin, there were originally 15 teams between Venango and Crawford Counties. The top 8 teams in these counties then advance to Quarter-Finals to compete head-to-head. From that point, the top 4 teams go to Finals, then the top 2 teams from Finals move on to the Championship Round.
In a standard high school match, teams play two regular games in addition to 3 baker games. Regular games involve all 5 bowlers on each team bowling 10 total frames, whereas baker games have the first team member bowling the first and sixth frames, the second member bowling the second and seventh frames, and so on.
In preparation for the League Championship, the bowlers devoted time to weekly practices where they performed drills designed to improve timing, release, consistency, and mental fortitude. By the time the competition rolled around, the team members felt confident in their abilities.
“I generally don’t get nervous going into a match, and I honestly don’t believe most of my teammates do either. We just go and do our thing. Leave the last frame in the past, keep your head high, and just have fun,” bowler Aubrey Stewart explained.
As mentioned previously, Cranberry’s bowling team was confronted by losses in the first 2 regular games, and one of the opposing bowlers even achieved a perfect 300 game. Despite the setbacks, Cranberry’s team members never threw in the towel, and they managed to win the following 3 baker games to take the League Championship.
“Truthfully, I didn’t bowl my best in the regular games⎯we all struggled some. However, I am so proud of the way our team members never hung our heads low and pulled it together for the baker games to come out with the win,” Stewart went on to say.
The members would also like to extend their gratitude to their coaches. Though only one of the team’s coaches still has a child participating in the game, each instructor has devoted countless hours to honing the skills of each team member.
In addition to the aforementioned accomplishment, the bowling team also previously qualified for Team Regionals where they took 9th place. Stewart and Mellring also both qualified for and bowled individually at regional competitions where Stewart managed to qualify for States.
Hannah Niederriter is a student at Cranberry High School and a member of Cranberry Chronicles, the school’s journalism/publications class.
