Bowling | Graphic by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
On Saturday October 19, the Wright State women's bowling team attended the Ohio Bowling Conference in Columbus, OH. In its third season as an NCAA program, the Wright State University women's team continues to improve and make bigger strides in success each season.
Leading up to OBC
Throughout the season the raiders are traveling, competing and, of course, working hard to understand new patterns and ways to improve their overall game.
Starting off the season the raiders traveled to Columbus Square Bowling Palace for their first conference. In event one of the Ohio Bowling Conference, the team finished in third place, with three raiders finishing inside the top 50 individually.
The raiders recently traveled to Youngstown University for the Penguin Classic and rolled three best-of-seven baker matches to finish the classic on Sunday, Oct 13. However, the raiders were able to bounce back with two straight wins to finish the tournament with a seventh-place finish.
“Our team is the closest we've been in the past few years, and I think it shows in our tournament results,” Anna Johns, a third year bowler for the Wright State women’s bowling team, stated.
Rolling into OBC
The Ohio Bowling Conference event two was held Oct. 19 at Columbus Square Bowling Palace. Coming off of the first event for the OBC, the raiders were amped up to finish further than they previously did.
Addy Meshaw is in her first season at Wright State and finished in eleventh overall for the Ohio Bowling Conference on Saturday. She bowled all four games and averaged 193 and total pins of 774.
The team have been working with challenging oil patterns throughout the season, and have expected lane breakdowns as well as practicing on the oil pattern for the OBC.
“On Sunday, it seemed that the pattern played differently on every pair we went to, meaning we had to work even harder,” Meshaw Stated.
The raiders finished with three bowlers in the Top 15 individually, tallying 5,417 total pins for an average of 193. This resulted in the raiders taking the conference title for the OBC.
Moving forward
Although the raiders finished with a great game play at the OBCs, they are still working to improve different areas of their game. For each player, their strategy for the game is different, both physically and mentally.
All are working to improve their mindsets, versatility for patterns and their fill rate.
“The more we bowl, the more we realize strikes are nice when they come, but spares are key. We are doing great so far, if we can fix minor things we will continue to grow,” Aiyana Godwin, a first year bowler for Wright State, said.
Wright State University women’s bowling team will continue their season with their upcoming Raider Classic on Nov 9 at Beaver Vu Bowl.
