Third Place at State

The Raider bowling teams left Wednesday at 1:30 for the State Bowling Tournament which found the boys bowling on Thursday morning and the girls this morning. The bowling alley was packed full of support for the local teams (very loud support) and the lanes were very oily and fast. Our boys struggled the entire day, which ended with the Raiders in 8th place (out of 9 teams). Raider Zach Donovan was 19th and received a medal. The boys were disappointed, but Coach T was quick to remind them that they had a record breaking season and there were plenty of teams at home (actually sitting in class). That seemed to cheer them up a bit. The girls got another hour of practice Thursday night and after a quick team meeting headed off to bed. I was having my coffee this morning at 6:00 when a very sleepy looking Shelby stepped off the elevator for breakfast. She had an omelet, sausage and had made friends with the guy stocking up the breakfast bar, who was nice enough to make her a Belgian waffle. After breakfast she got ready and packed up her bags to check out of the hotel. Before leaving for the lanes, she mentioned she was nervous and felt like she might "hurl" but thought that might have been because of the huge breakfast, not nerves. Tim and Tom got into town before they opened the doors and when we next saw Shelby, she was at her lane looking very relaxed and at ease. Now it was my turn to feel nauseous. After introductions, they got to start their warm up. Shelby quickly discovered that she needed to use a different ball, and while she picked up spares, she did not find her strike ball. The tournament started, the local fans got loud, and Shelby marched up and threw a strike. Her first of many, I might add. I could write a novel about her today but to save space I will condense my thoughts. 1) Shelby looked like she was having a blast the entire time so much so that the Maize fans sitting around me started to cheer for her too (this was the only time throughout the tournament that I saw people cheering for the opposition). 2) Shelby was the only one I saw that clapped for her opposition. 3) Shelby bowled a 247, 203, and 207 for a 657 series and third place. At the beginning of the season, Coach T had all the kids write down goals for themselves. Shelby can pretty much check off most of hers after today.

Shelby getting her medal

Coach T, Shelby, Katie, and Coach D