The Manhattan High Indians’ boys and girls bowling teams have both just come off wins at Junction City. Impressive performances by individuals were key to all the teams success.
The Indians achieved a clean sweep across all divisions at Junction City on Feb. 5. The boys Junior Varsity, girls Junior Varsity, boys Varsity and girls Varsity all took first, showing the capability of this Indians team.
Sophomore Cortlynn Millington led the girls side with a 695 series, taking first place individually. A series is the summed up total of all three games. In Millington’s performance, she bowled a 181 in her first game, a 247 in her second and a 267 in her third.
“I think our team did a lot better at adjusting than last week,” senior Alec Ogorzolka said. “We had a lot more 200 games than our home meet.”
At the home meet on Feb. 2 at Little Apple Lanes, the girls Varsity team took first place, led by great performance from Millington. Bowling one of her better games, Millington individually lifted the overall score for the Indians. The boys Varsity team had a strong showing, finishing in second place, just 20 pins behind Hayden.
“We had some high games but we also had some below-average games and that’s what made it so we didn’t win that tournament,” assistant coach Chris George said. “So the good news was that they bowled like their capable of, but just not consistently.”
The back-to-back successes have set a positive tone for the remainder of the season. The teams have demonstrated they can compete at a high level. With bowlers like Ogorzolka and Millington leading the way, the next few tournaments should show the full capability of this Manhattan squad.
“On the girls’ side, Cortlynn bowled her average day and she won the tournament [home meet],” George said. “So the good news was that our girls bowled a little bit better than average, and that’s why they won.”
Though far from perfection, the Indians are steadily improving every day at practice, hoping to top previous year’s results at Regionals and State.
“We can be better at picking up spares,” George said. “We leave too many spares out there and that just kills your team score.”
Manhattan’s bowlers have shown they can handle pressure of both home and away meets, and their ability to adjust to different lane conditions is a promising sign for the challenges ahead. Manhattan will have another meet at Little Apple Lanes on Feb. 9, as well as having a West Ridge-Washburn Rural meet on Feb. 11.
“We need to keep working as hard as we can to get to the place where we can win, and to potentially go to State,” Millington said.
