By Adrienne Esposito, Staff Writer
Ranked no.10 and no.16 in the nation, Newman’s men’s and women’s bowling teams are ushering in the new year with some hardware.
Earlier this month, the women bowled their way to the championship title in the SWIBCV tournament. Junior Carley Sullivan earned the individual title, and sophomore Brittani Magee placed fourth. Their performances earned each of them a place on the All-Tournament team.
The men weren’t far behind, finishing in third place in the men’s SWIBC V tournament.
Both teams then took first place the following day in their respective SWIBC VI tournaments. Sullivan earned yet another individual title; this time followed by freshman Maddison Osenbaugh in fourth place. Each earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
For the men, this was their first team championship title of the season. Senior Cory Clausing said that the win sparked confidence in the team.
“It feels really good to get that win, especially since we know that we’re fully capable… It’s a good boost to help ramp us into the end of the season and postseason,” Clausing said.
Clausing said that the team has learned from its past mistakes and built from them, noting that they missed the opportunity to compete in nationals last year by a mere 178 pins.
Junior Kristen Machacek of the women’s team attributed their success to communication among the team members.
“We came back from break and only had one practice as a team before we went down to Dallas for those tournaments. I think everyone kind of put extra emphasis on communication and talking about when they were chasing balls and making moves, and I think that helped,” Machacek said.
Machacek said that the team has two regular season tournaments left, and they hope to finish on a high note.
“Everyone wants to put on a strong showing in these last two and maybe move up a couple spots in the national ranking, but I think as a team our goal is just to improve individually and work on our communication and teamwork, to strengthen that going into the postseason to hopefully make a run at nationals,” Machacek said.
The Jets are back at it this weekend in Fairview Heights, Illinois at the McKendree Baker Challenge.
PHOTO: WOMEN’S BOWLING took home the championship title in the SWIBC V tournament earlier this month. Courtesy photo, Newman Athletics
