BREMERTON — The Port Angeles girls bowling team finished seventh at the West-Central District III tournament held in Bremerton this weekend and will send five bowlers to the state tournament beginning Friday in Tukwila.
Sequim, meanwhile, will send two bowlers — Victoria Nava and Skylar Krzyworz — to state.
While Port Angeles has sent individuals to state, this is the first time the Roughriders will be sending a full team to state in the three-year history of the program.
The Riders’ Zoey Van Gordon finished seventh overall, starting strong with a 206 to help the Riders place fifth after Game One. After Game Two, Port Angeles was in sixth with Xoey Penn’s 164 leading the way for the Riders as Van Gordon contributed a solid 144.
Kenadie Ring set a personal high of 160 in Game Three, as the Riders remained in sixth, trailing by 37 pins.
After the first Baker game, Port Angeles remained 24 pins behind Selah. After the second Baker game, the Riders closed the gap considerably, down by just two pins. After the third Baker, the Riders jumped to fifth, 15 pins ahead of Selah for the final berth to state.
Selah beat the Riders in the final Baker by 11 points, not enough to overcome Port Angeles’ 15-pin advantage. The Roughriders advanced to state with a total of 2,722 pins to Selah’s 2,718.
“What an exciting tournament. I am so proud of these five bowlers,” said coach Rebecca Gundersen. “We kept our energy and focus, and bowled above our season averages to secure the final team berth to state. Zoey claiming seventh overall is a big accomplishment and Izzy Spencer bowling 21 pins above her average was huge.”
Van Gordon finished with a 508 (206-144-158), while Penn had a 442 (120-164-158), Spencer a 413 (139, 123, 151), Leilah French a 375 (137, 104, 134) and Ring a 362 (83, 119, 160).
Franich, Penn, Ring, Spencer and Van Gordon will compete at Bowlero in Tukwila for the two-day tournament beginning Friday.
For Sequim, Nava started slowly but came on strong in her final two games. She had a 93 in her first game, but bounced back with a 170 in Game Two and a 183 in Game Three for a 446 series. Krzyworz was consistent with a 141 in Game One, a 149 in Game Two and a 150 in Game Three for a 440 series.