The Illinois Wesleyan women’s bowling team travelled to Waterloo, Iowa from Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23 for the Annual Peacock Classic hosted by Upper Iowa University.
The three day tournament consisted of one day of Baker-style bowling, one day of regular team bowling and a third day of bracket bowling.
With a total pinfall of 6789 over the course of the weekend, the Titans were unable to break their losing streak. Despite another loss, this tournament was the best yet for the team.
The Titans broke their total pinfall record in a Baker match against Marian University, scoring 640 against Marian’s 878. Junior Alivia Catey paced the Titans in the five-game match, scoring a 146-pin game.
Alongside Catey were seniors Jade Miller and Sarah Buchmann with 123 and 111 points respectively, junior Shea Atkins with 136 and freshman Laina Chavarria with 124.
The Titans’ total pinfall was not the only accomplishment that weekend. Chavarria set a personal collegiate record for herself on top of a new team record with the team’s highest single-game pinfall of 173 against Valparaiso University.
“Although I am very happy with my achievement, I am looking forward to beating my own record soon and hopefully setting it into the 200s,” Chavarria said.
Catey also set a career best with a 115 against Marian in the regular team bowling, and Buchmann scored her single-game high of 149 against Augustana College and ultimately pushed her total pinfall score to a record 672 for six games of five-person team matches.
Both Buchmann and Atkins bowled every game throughout the weekend.
“It’s a lot, mentally and physically. For people who don’t bowl, it doesn’t seem like much goes into the sport but after five games, you’re dead tired. [Most people don’t consider] little things like foot placement, oil patterns, and where to aim,” Atkins said.
But despite being totally exhausted, Atkins ended with a 780 total for the traditional matches.
The women’s bowling team is currently playing their second season under the direction of the founder, Assistant Coach Anthony Lunsford. Lunsford is joined this year by Interim Head Coach Nikki Miller. Currently, the top three schools in the CCIW rankings are Marian University, Augustana College, and Elmhurst University. Illinois Wesleyan stands second from last.
The Titans will be returning to the lanes this weekend, February 5 and 6 at a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament in Naperville, Ill. Both days will consist of Baker style games.