City High Continues Dream Season With Title At State Qualifying Meet
Douglas Miles
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – The season was already considered a rousing success for the City High girls’ bowling team.
Now it gets another crack at a state title.
In a year in which the Little Hawks set school records and capped an unbeaten season with their first Mississippi Valley Conference crown, anything less than a return to the state tournament for the second year in a row would have been considered a sour end.
With this exceptional group, no chance.
“It has just been a fantastic season,” City High coach Mike Degner said after the Little Hawks earned a berth in the girls’ state bowling tournament both as a team and for three of their individuals at a Class 3A state-qualifying tournament Tuesday at Colonial Lanes. “We set this goal before the season started that we wanted to go undefeated and we wanted to get back to state. The goal has been all season long is to not just get back to state, but possibly win the whole thing this year.”
The top-eight individual scorers from each of four state-qualifying tournament sites qualify for the individual state tournament, while each site’s top-two teams in total pins from the Baker games portion qualify for the team tournament.
With 2,796 total pins in the Baker games – 71 better than runner-up Cedar Falls, which earned the other spot in the team tournament – City High will return to the state tournament, where it finished sixth last year in its debut appearance.
“I was very happy that we were able to qualify as a team,” City High senior Elyse Rios said. “Because that is so much more important than the three of us qualifying individually.”
Rios was one of three individual qualifiers for City High.
The Upper Iowa recruit finished eighth in the individual standings with a score of 551 through three games.
Fellow City High seniors Shaylin Brown (577 pins) and Britney Russell (578) placed fourth and third, respectively.
“Adjusting and switching balls really helped me with my last game,” Russell said.
City High sophomore Kendra Schwarting narrowly missed out on an individual berth by finishing just one pin behind Rios.
Sophomore Makayla Saylor and senior Tracey Cirillo round out the Little Hawks’ lineup.
“Senior-loaded with four of them and then two amazing sophomores,” Degner said. “Just a really solid team.”
Sydney Dannen of Marshalltown was tops in the individual standings with a score of 641.
On the boys’ side, Marshalltown and Davenport North earned state bids with their Baker games’ performances, while City High’s Carson Reid (third with 684 pins) and runner-up Stirlen Roberson of Iowa City West (697) earned individual state bids.
Both the individual state tournament – Feb. 21 at Maple Lanes – and the Feb. 23 team tournament at Cadillac XBC will be held in Waterloo.
The City High girls hope a small taste of last year’s tournament will set the stage for a big jump this time around.
“Going to state last year definitely had a big impact on us,” Brown said. “We were able to see what it is like to be one of the top teams there. Being able to qualify for state and showing us that, ‘Hey, we’re here and we are ready to rock n’ roll.’ I think going back, we’ll be able to do more damage because we know that we are good and we can show that to everyone.”
Boys Results
State Qualifying Meet
At Colonial Lanes in Iowa City
Team scores – 1. Marshalltown 2,966; 2. Davenport North 2,934; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie 2,887; 4. Pleasant Valley 2,882; 5. West High 2,854; 6. Cedar Falls 2,840; 7. City High 2,764; 8. Des Moines North 1,952
Individual leaders – 1. Demitri Ferneau (MAR) 698; 2. Stirlen Roberson (ICW) 697; 3. Carson Reid (ICH) 684; 4. Jacob Nickey (CF) 675; 5. Aaron Ratle (MAR) 660; 6. Owen Brinker (CF) 640; 7. Damon Borton (MAR) 638; 8. Andru Wilder (MAR) 630
West High (2,854) – Stirlen Roberson 267-203-227 – 697; Ryan Bys 208-190-199 – 597; Kolby Ripperton 192-151-252 – 595; Caden Noeller 214-167-169 – 550; Declan Bunn 203-131-173 – 507; Adam McLean 159-153-191 – 503
City High (2,764) – Carson Reid 202-203-279 – 684; Zach Russell 194-224-203 – 621; Nile Franz 211-223-169 – 603; Brady Evers 160-227-152 – 539; Henry Sexton 167-158-155 – 480; Tyler Cermak 168-144-142 – 454
Girls Results
State Qualifying Meet
At Colonial Lanes in Iowa City
Team scores – 1. City High 2,796; 2. Cedar Falls 2,725; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie 2,487; 4. Davenport North 2,268; 5. Pleasant Valley 2,211; 6. Marshalltown 2,124; 7. West High 2,042; 8. Des Moines North 1,520
Individual leaders – 1. Sydney Dannen (MAR) 641; 2. Anna Frahm (CF) 639; 3. Britney Russell (ICH) 578; 4. Shaylin Brown (ICH) 577; 5. Amber Wagner (CRP) 577; 6. Jadyn Collins (CRP) 570; 7. Katie Waltz (CF) 554; 8. Elyse Rios (ICH) 551
City High (2,796) – Britney Russell 578; Shaylin Brown 577; Elyse Rios 551; Kendra Schwarting 550; Makayla Saylor 500; Tracey Cirillo 432
West High (2,042) – Kayla Schindler 490; Whitney Noeller 442; Jade Ritchey 381; Isabelle Mehmen 367; Madeline Otis 366; Kaylen Brackett 346
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