THREEPEAT FOR BA GIRLS AT STATE BOWLING FINALS

(February 23, 2008) – The Broken Arrow girls bowling team successfully defended their title for the third time in a row at the High School Bowling State Championships held Saturday, February 23, at Heritage Lanes in Oklahoma City. MacArthur High School(Lawton) took their first title in the boys’ division, defeating Moore 3-2 in one of the highest scoring matches in Oklahoma High School bowling history. MacArthur clinched the match with a 234-214 win.

Saturday’s finals began with a crowd of about 900 people filling Heritage Lanes to watch the top 16 boys and girls teams from around the state compete for the crowns. Representing the Broken Arrow Conference were Broken Arrow boys and girls as well as Union boys and Bishop Kelley girls. All teams rolled 8 games of Baker system qualifying after which the field was cut to the top eight. Union, coached by Roger Teed, and Bishop Kelley, coached by Kenny Schwarz, failed to qualify while the BA girls were second with Eisenhower/Lawton leading the way. Boys division qualifying was lead by Putnam City and the BA boys squeaked into the final eight in seventh place.

The second phase of the tournament consisted of best of five matches. BA boys were eliminated in the first round of match play, losing 3-1 to Putnam City North. Coach Charles Proctor cited the inability to convert spares as the major contribution to BA’s low qualifying score and first round loss. Members of the BA team are seniors Ben DeWeese, Armando Munoz and David Hearn, junior Josh McCoy, sophomores Koty Schwarz and Chad Coulter, and freshmen Cody Engle and Ryan Leach.

Broken Arrow girls rolled through match play, winning matches over Westmore 3-1, MacArthur 3-1, and in the finals defeating Moore by a 3-1 margin. Coaches Jenny Kramme and her son Craig Kramme lauded the team’s spirit and striking abilities even though they were slightly hampered by the loss of senior Deanna Davis who was suffering from the flu and could not compete. Members of the 2008 championship team include seniors Heather Peden and Heather Getzloff, juniors Alyssa Burkey and Stephanie Ross, and sophomores Danielle McDonald, Lisa Johnson, and Renee Dawson.

Teams in the top eight in the girls division after qualifying were Eisenhower, Broken Arrow, Ponca City, Moore, Stillwater, MacArthur, Westmore, and Sapulpa. Other girls teams qualifying for state final were Southeast, Putnam City North, Durant, BerryHill, Bishop Kelley, Santa Fe South, Enid, and Inidianola. In the boys division Putnam City led the qualifying, followed by Putnam City North, MacArthur, Moore, Mount St. Mary’s, Yukon, Broken Arrow and Stillwater. Other teams at state were Miami, Cache, Rock Creek, Union, Morrison, Charles Page, Durant and Cimarron.

The commissioner of Oklahoma State High School Bowling is Tommy Gann of Sand Springs. Tournament Director for the state finals was Mike Widmar of Heritage Lanes.