Statesmen Narrowly Miss Nationals Berth, Taking Fifth at USBC Sectionals

Fort Worth, Texas--The William Penn women's bowling team fell just short of earning its second trip to a national tournament as it battled at USBC Sectionals Friday through Sunday.

On Saturday and Sunday at Cityview Lanes, WPU placed fifth out of 16 squads in the team competition with 12,344 pins in 64 Baker games.  Louisiana Tech headed the Fort Worth sectional, while Wichita State (Kan.), Tulane (La.), and Oklahoma Christian also earned spots to USBC Nationals in April.

The Statesmen missed qualifying for nationals by only 106 pins.  William Penn, which recorded 24 games with at least 200 pins (high of 245), concluded the first 16-game block in eighth place.  William Penn then produced its best block with 3,335 pins to move up to third, including a weekend high of 245.

Unfortunately, the navy and gold could not maintain that pace and were passed by two programs and got left out of the qualifying quartet.

Team members included Kelcey Aczon (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Nursing), Gabi Evans (Sr., West Liberty, Iowa, Psychology and Sociology), Sammantha Meyers (Jr., Rockford, Ill., Elementary Education), Christy Mottier (Sr., Madison, Wis., Business Management), Olivia Nolte (Sr., Atkins, Iowa, Elementary Education), Caitlin Radliff (Jr., Belleville, Ill., Software Engineering), Madison Ross (Sr., Charles City, Iowa, Exercise Science), and Cydnee Whiteleather (Sr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Elementary Education).

A few individuals also competed in the USBC Singles Sectionals event Friday with Evans finishing 28th with a 204.4 average in five games.

The trio of Whiteleather (197.2), Radliff (196.6), and Meyers (193.2) also eclipsed the 190 mark, while Mottier (186.6), Nolte (180.6), Ross (176.2), and Aczon (164.0) bowled in the individual competition as well.