BOWLING

The Huntington bowling teams were on the lanes this weekend at the National Collegiate Team Match Games for a tournament format that included six team games on Saturday and 20 Baker games on Sunday.

“The field was smaller than most years for one of college bowling’s oldest and most prestigious events,” said Coach Mike Shockey. “But it was probably one of strongest fields we will see until postseason play begins. Eight of the 16 schools represented are currently ranked in the top 20 in the country.”

The HU men finished the weekend in 9th place out of 16 teams with a total score of 9,718 pins. Sophomore Derek Leyba led Shockey’s crew by shooting a blazing 1,319 for six games for a 219.8 per game average to place third out of 121 bowlers and land a spot on the All-Tournament team, a first for him.

Saturday was one of the Foresters’ best all-around performances of the year and while the team remained consistent on Sunday, they slipped a spot to finish middle of the pack for the weekend.

“So far this season it has been consistent shot-making and spare shooting that has been costing us better finishes,” said Shockey. “This weekend the guys were a lot better in those areas. The finish position doesn’t reflect the improvement we saw in our performance.

“Derek has been working really hard on his game and for him to put things together and make his first all-tournament was huge.”

The HU women posted an 8th place finish out of 13 teams with a total pin count of 9,090. After finding themselves in 9th place after Saturday, the Foresters moved up a spot after Baker play to edge past conference rival Marian in the standings.

Junior Amber Elliott led Shockey’s squad on Saturday with a total score of 1,153 for a 192.2 per game average. The Northwood (Ohio) native finished the tournament with a strong 15th place finish given how strong the overall field was.

“The best way I can describe the weekend for the women would be inconsistent,” said Shockey. “The first four games on Saturday we would look great for half a game, but the other half we looked lost.

“Games five and six on Saturday we started putting things back together to finish the day well. Sunday was more of the same where we could score well on the left lane but was lost on the right almost all day.”

Next up for the Foresters is the Motiv Warhawk Open on December 4-5.