For the 12th year in a row, the Le Mars girls bowling team is heading to the state tournament after winning their state qualifying meet in Le Mars on Monday. In the individual tournament, the Bulldogs qualified all six of their bowlers for the first time in school history.
The season has been up and down at times for the Bulldogs who graduated a great senior class last season. Head coach Gary Brady says one thing that stays constant is the team comradery this group has.
In the baker portion, Le Mars started off slow with a 150 and a 140 before getting things going midway through the second set of games. That ultimately led to a 254 game for their 10th baker competition. Coach Brady said it took calming everyone down to get back to their game.
Le Mars ultimately ended with a 2679 as a team which was over 200 pins better than the second-place qualifier. On the individual side, Le Mars was also dominating as a team. All six bowlers were in the top-eight of the standings the entire day ending with all of them qualifying for state. Freshman Quinley Clark led the way with a 684 series, a mark she says she had never come close to before.
After a slow start in the team portion, Clark says it was important to reset and calm the nerves before the individual games started.
In the regular season, Clark had been going through the motions sometimes and not always playing up to her potential. She says going through some of those tough times paid off to send her to state.
Coach Brady knew that Clark could be a great bowler because she has just about lived at Sweet 16 Lanes throughout her childhood.
Another individual star was Jenna Fisher who was a state-placewinner last year for the Bulldogs. She started slow with a 179 and bounced back nicely with a 266 on her way to a 624 series which was second overall. Coach Brady says a minor adjustment was all she needed to get back on the right track.
For Clark, this will be her first time competing at the state tournament, but she has been there before as a spectator. She says she is looking forward to being a part of the energy at the lanes.
Le Mars has been the state runner-up the past two seasons and will look to see if they can get above that hump and win their second state title as a team. To do that, Coach Brady needs his team to get off to a strong start in Waterloo.
The team portion of the state tournament takes place on Tuesday, February 10 with the individual portion on Wednesday, February 11 in Waterloo.
