The Wright State Women’s Bowling team capped off an impressive Ohio Bowling Conference (OBC) season as runner-up, with multiple players earning individual awards for their standout performances. Shifting focus to their non-OBC season, the Raiders recently competed at the Hoosier Classic where Mia Sayles scored her first 300 game.
OBC Season
The team finished their OBC season on Feb. 8 at the conference's "Event 4" in Columbus. At the conference, the team finished fifth, placing them as runner-up overall for the season.
The raiders started their OBC season in October at the first event for the conference, ending the event in third place. Paige Patterson led the Raiders and finished tied with twelfth place, bowling four games and shooting 685 with an average of 171.
Moving into the second event, the Raiders captured the OBC title, having three Raiders finish in the top 15 individually. The team tallied 5,417 total points and averaged a 193, finishing shy of 200 points ahead of St. Vincent.
Jada Baker is a freshman on the team and bowled in the second and third OBC event. In the second OBC event, Baker led the way in bowling all four games, shooting 887 and averaging a 221. Baker received the Newcomer of the Year award, named conference MVP and was named in the all-rookie team.
"Practicing multiple times a week with the team and on my own was a big role that had helped me be able to achieve the awards at OBC," Baker stated.
The team moved onto the third event of the conference, and had three squads representing Wright State University. The green squad tallied 5,391 total pins, earning first place, the white group tallied 4,800 total pins finishing first place and the gold squad tallied 4,666, finishing second in their division.
With all four events finished, the team ended their season second in the OBC season.
Non-OBC Season
The bowling team is still hosting and traveling to tournaments as they continue on to their non-OBC season. On Feb.15 and 16, the team traveled to Indiana for the Hoosier Classic as well as the Flyer Classic in Illinois.
At the Hoosier Classic the team finished in 16 place out of 65 teams. The team tallied 4,815, with Mia Sayles and Alli Shattuck leading the team.
Sayles is sophomore on the team and has been bowling since her freshman year of high school. She came to WSU due to her interests in bowling.
She has had a great season, and for the first time in her bowling career she has shot a 300, which is a perfect score.
"Bowling my first 300 game is very much a blur to me. The only thing that I can really remember is in between shots talking with my team," Sayles said.
The team is currently doing well in the NCAA, and have been ranked in the top 25 in both RPI performance and coach's poll. They are working on growing their team chemistry and work ethic. Head Coach Jeffery Fleck commented on this season.
"In just our third season as an NCAA program, the team has really started to make huge strides. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching us grow this season as a cohesive unit," Fleck stated.
WSU's bowling team will finish their season at the USBC Sectionals on March 8.
