Boys bowling takes top eight at state
photo by Mckenna Bloonshine
Senior Cade Rogers celebrates after he throws a strike for his team. Rogers helped lead the team to many district victories. The took Top 8 at States.
The boys bowling team qualified 16th and finished in the top eight out of 32 teams at the state tournament held Nov. 2-4 at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando.
“I felt pretty good going into states. We had a strong season and a really strong district tournament. Our team this year I felt was stronger than last year and we qualified sixth last year, so I was pretty confident going into States,” said head coach Jacob Colquhoun.
This will be Colquhoun’s second consecutive state team since he has taken over as head coach. Last year the team qualified as sixth out of 26 teams, and finished in the top 16.
The team played four games at states: Tampa Bay HEAT in a 3-0 loss(624 to 539), Bishop Verot High School in a 3-1 win (887 to 806), East River High School in a 3-0 win (699 to 479) and Apopka High School in a 3-0 loss (630 to 550).
“The Tampa Bay HEAT game was a hard game. They were just bowling amazingly, they’re really good,” senior Cade Rogers said.
The team also had a hard game against Apopka as well. Apopka was hitting almost all of their spares, which made it hard for the boys to keep up with them.
“Apopka I would say was our biggest competition. They’re a very sound team, pick up almost all of their spares and have a program that has historically been very successful at the State tournament. Going against them was definitely our toughest competition,” Colquhoun said.
The team had a good run at states, even though it did not turn out in their favor they still worked hard and fought through their whole season.
“As the coach, I will always find something I could have done to give us a better chance. The boys did everything they could and I truly believe they left it all out there. Unfortunately, we just came up a little short. I believe we were as prepared as we possibly could be,” Colquhoun said.
Before the state tournament, the postseason run started Oct. 25, with districts. The team placed first at districts which guaranteed them a spot in the state tournament.
“I think we were very well prepared moving into districts,” Colquhoun said. “I am proud of what both teams did this season.”
Colquhoun kept practices simple and light the week before districts. He wanted to make sure his athletes were not stressed out and getting ahead of themselves.
“We stayed steady with our practices, building team chemistry and trust by being together four days a week,” Colquhoun said. “I tried to keep practice loose and fun but there are times where I throw simulated situations at them to see how they react.”
The team had a positive mindset as they moved into districts, knowing that they had the best record out of all the teams competing.
“We were pretty confident, we had the best record out of the entire conference and we went into it knowing that we could beat everyone,” senior Jacob Daleondro said.
According to Daleondro, the team had a slow start to districts, as they were too focused on the overall outcome rather than the games they were actually playing. Adjusting quickly, the team managed to build their focus and set the tone for the rest of the tournament.
“It started off in qualifying a little rough, but I think it was like that for most teams. Seeing as we were still the top seed but overall I rated really good,” Daleondro said
In the district finals the team had to play Oviedo, Lake Howell and Lyman. After losing to Lyman in their last regular season match, the team redeemed themselves with a 3-1 win, along with a 3-0 win against Oviedo, and a 3-1 win against Lake Howell. In the Oviedo game the team was ahead the whole game, the starters executed and pushed through the rival game.
“It was an emotional win against Oviedo for sure and they were fired up. We still took care of business,” senior Cade Rogers said.
Finishing up their normal season 15-1 and becoming district champions and placing top eight in states is not a bad way to end a season, and Colquhoun is beyond proud of his team.
“Overall I am really proud of them. It’s obviously disappointing t
o have our season come to an end and I am going to miss all the guys that are graduating and moving on. But this year was a huge year for our program as a whole. We made it farther than we have in a really long time and set a really good foundation for the future,” Colquhoun said.
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