FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2014

CONTACT:
Gordon Vadakin
Phone (316) 978-7655
Fax (316) 978-6056
email - shocker.bowling@wichita.edu
www.wichita.edu/bowling

Women and Men Continue to Learn Early in the Season

WICHITA, Kan. – Competing in back to back events, the young Shocker teams have shown improvement early on in the season. Two weeks ago the Shox competed in the Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence, Kan. and this past weekend they traveled to the Leatherneck Classic in Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Ill.

The Jayhawk Classic consisted of six traditional team games on Saturday. All teams returned Sunday morning for 16 baker games. The field was then cut to the top eight men’s varsity teams, four women’s varsity teams, two men’s junior varsity teams and two women’s junior varsity teams for a best three out of five, bracket style elimination. This was the last tournament of the season for the developmental team.

At the Jayhawk Classic, the women came home with second places in both the varsity and the junior varsity divisions.

On day one, the young women’s team, which featured three freshman, two sophomores and one senior, kept a steady pace averaging 955 to take an early 300 pin lead. The Lady Shox continued their steady pace, averaging 184 for the 16 baker games on Sunday. Their qualifying scores earned them the number one seed for the bracket.

In round one, the ladies bowled Baker University and won 3-0. In the finals, the girls fought hard against Midland and took the match to five games but came up short with scores of 242-177, 190-195, 169-192, 222-18 and 189-233.

Individually, the Shockers had three women make the all-tournament team based on their six game averages. Chenoa Rhoades, a sophomore from Lafayette, Ind., was the tournament MVP with a six game average of 206. Junior Catherine Prather (Milton, Fla.) and sophomore Laura Plazas (Bogotá, Colombia) placed fourth and fifth, with averages of 198 and 197, respectively. Another notable finish included freshman Sierra Kanemoto (Dayton, Ohio), who had a five game average of 195.

“With such a young group of girls, this was a great tournament. The condition was hard and they stayed pretty consistent the whole weekend,” said assistant coach Mark Lewis. “This group keeps improving and will continue to work hard to get to where we want to be by March.”

The junior varsity ladies also bowled Midland University in the final round of the bracket. They won the first game but lost the next three to finish the tournament in second.

After the team games on day one, the Shocker men found themselves in fourth place by averaging a little over 1000 for the six team games. Like the women, the men were quite consistent over the two days, averaging 199 for the 16 baker games. This earned them the fourth seed for the bracket finals.

A quick 3-0 victory over Lindenwood-Belleville and the Shox were in the semifinals against University of Kansas. The boys strung strikes together game one to win 254-205, but fell the next three games to get third place.

Senior Francois Lavoie (Québec, Canada) cracked the top ten again with a six game average of 208. Sophomores Jason Ciszewski (South Amboy, N.J.) and Justin Zwaschka (St. Joe, Mo.) finished tied for 15th with an average of 205.

“We are in contention in these early season events but it’s apparent that we need to work to get much, much better,” head coach Gordon Vadakin said.

In Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Ill., the Leatherneck Classic featured the same format.

Both men and women’s team struggled on day one. After the six games, the women were in fourth and the men were in fifth.

On day two, the men came around, firing the second-highest baker total to jump into third. In the first round of the best-of-three bracket, the men swept St. Ambrose 2-0 with game scores of 211-201 and 218-191. The men finished the tournament in third with a loss to Lindenwood, 182-236 and 219-210.

Once again senior Lavoie found himself on the all-tournament team, placing second with a 221 average. Sophomore Mitch Hupé (Winnipeg, Canada) and transfer Tyler Cruz (Tacoma, Wash.) each had four game averaged of 211.

“We are competitive in baker games, but less so in the regular team games. Everyone is changing some parts of their games. It’s challenging some of us, being caught between training and competition,” Coach Vadakin said.

Bowling on a very difficult pattern, the ladies qualified fourth after the baker games for the bracket. Unfortunately the girls ran into the eventual champion in round one, losing to Grand View 200-150, 148-200, 217-218.

Senior Brianna Amidon (Pittsfield, Mass.) cracked the top ten, finishing seventh with a six game average of 197. Hollyann Johansen (Wichita, Kan.) and Kanemoto also had great performances with averages of 195 and 193, respectively.

“This tournament featured another young team, only having two upperclassmen. The pattern was pretty difficult to match up on and the girls did a great job of communicating and experimenting to find the right match up. The improvement from day Saturday to Sunday was incredible,” said Coach Lewis.

The Shockers finally get a two week break before heading to their first tier-one event of the season, National Team Match Games in Fairview Heights, Ill. over Thanksgiving break.

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The Rhatigan Student Center has been the major financial and administrative supporter of the Wichita State University bowling program since 1959.