Photo: Sarah Buchmann
On Saturday Feb. 6, Wesleyan’s Womens’ Bowling Team competed at Bowlero in Naperville, Ill. against North Central College and Augustana College. Elmhurst University was also in attendance.
For each set against another school, the teams play a normal game with five players, and each player bowls a complete set of 10 frames. A baker game is played with five players where one player bowls frames one and six, the next bowls two and seven, and so on. A baker game is played five times to count as a full set.
IWU won the whole set against NCC. In the first match, the team won 552-493. Macy Michorczyk scored 127, Shea Atkins scored 88, Ashley Cook scored 122, Sarah Buchmann scored 106 and Jade Miller scored 109.
Cook scored three strikes in a row, marking her and the team’s first “turkey” of the season.
“I love getting to see each of us make improvements and become better bowlers as the season progresses” Cook said.
In the baker games against NCC, IWU’s roster consisted of Cook, Buchmann, Alivia Catey, Michorczyk and Atkins. The five baker games were scored 117, 84, 118, 118 and 120 for a total pinfall of 557 against NCC’s total pinfall score of 490.
Photo: Sarah Buchmann
The set against AC was a lot rougher than the set against NCC. NCC competed with a team of four players, meaning that they had to mark their fifth slot as zeros for the whole competition. This worked in favor for the Titans, but their scores during the set against Augustana took a turn for the worse.
In the regular match against AC, IWU totaled 493 against AC’s 804. Michorczyk scored 132, Cook scored 84, Buchmann scored 96, Miller scored 118 and Catey scored 64. In the baker games, all players except for Cook competed. The scores were 81, 78, 87, 123 and 103, with a total pinfall score of 472. AC had a total pinfall score of 665.
Shea Atkins, who was the highest scorer in competition the week before, was disappointed in this particular set against AC.
“I think that this weekend we really saw how different each meet will be. We need to adapt to things on the post which is sometimes the cause of frustration. I have hope that we’ll adapt more efficiently as time goes on” Atkins said.
One of the frustrations Atkins mentioned was that the computer system at the bowling alley constantly miscalculated scores and where pins fell. After each throw, Coach Anthony Lunsford had to manually reset the computer’s scores. The Titans were allowed to switch lanes halfway through the baker set, but their spirits were already dashed.
The Titans will be bowling in Rock Island this Saturday Feb. 13, hosted by Augustana College. There will be no spectators allowed due to Covid-19 precautions.