Varsity bowling coach Frederick Elliot knew what had just happened.
After looking at the final score of 756 for their regional Baker format game, he knew the SM East girls varsity bowling team was no longer under the radar, but now a record-breaking program.
“Pack your bags,” he told them. “We’re going to state.”
The team had just broken the Kansas State Baker bowling record and secured a spot with the nine best teams in Kansas to compete at state, becoming the first SM East girls bowling team to attend.
Baker bowling is a team format where five bowlers participate by each bowling two frames across a total of four games. Each game consists of ten frames, and bowlers take turns trying to knock down pins.
The height of their historic last season was the moment they got the state record. This winter, the team is learning to adjust after the graduation of four bowlers, and the team is left desperate to find more players, according to varsity bowler and sophomore Campbell McKee.
The girls program now only has seven athletes total, six of which are required for a varsity roster. Fewer girls means the team has less chances to have a top score. Some teams have 14 players on their varsity team alone, which means even more chances of having a better top score.
Recruiting has been difficult this season. Current players made posters to hang up around the school and tried to convince their friends to join, yet no one seemed interested.
“Nobody knows about how there are so many opportunities in it, and it is way more competitive than people realize,” varsity bowler and senior Mason Meyer said.
Despite having few players, the team opened its season on Jan. 12, placing second overall in its first meet. Coach Elliot puts the team in their hardest meets first to prepare them for pressure later in the season.
With 11 meets scheduled, the team is focused on steady improvement. Some players add their own practices at different alleys to get extra practice, including Meyer.
With such a small team, every throw matters, according to Elliot. In a typical meet, the top four scores per team are taken into account.
There’s immense pressure in Baker format, where each athlete bowls one frame before handing it off to the next teammate, who then bowls a second frame, Elliot said.
“When one player gets a strike, the next person has more pressure to follow suit,” Meyer said.
Momentum can change everything, and one mistake can affect the whole team's outcome, according to Meyer. Especially since strikes add up, and bowling two strikes in a row adds 20 points to the score.
In a Baker game, other teams have three to four alternates that can be subbed in, but the SM East team only has one. This means the team has less opportunity to change the lineup for a better score. For instance, if the one alternate is gone, the team has no subs.
Outside of the lanes, the team spends time together during lunches and 7 Brew visits. They have their own inside jokes—everything from priceless coach quotes to player nicknames, including ‘scarecrow’ and ‘tres.’
It's those connections between players that help keep the team together during their Baker games. Being able to pick each other up and reset after mistakes is crucial to maintaining a good score, Meyer said.
“I have met some of my best friends I would have never met outside of bowling,” McKee said.
The closeness between teammates matters in a sport where mental endurance is key, according to Elliot. Bowling conditions are forever changing because meets are held in a wide variety of alleys.
This forces athletes to adjust their footwork, release timing and mark selection. When preparing to bowl, each player selects a spot to start, depending on how they bowled last, or which pins they're trying to hit. This is known as their mark.
“It's more mental than people realize,” said Meyer.
Even after last season's success, recognition for the team from the school remains limited. Bowling is often dismissed as an “old man's sport” or “not a real sport,” which can lead to missed announcements or little coverage, Meyer said.
The coaches constantly have to advocate for meet results to be shown on the TV system at East. This means that rebuilding the girls bowling program is even more difficult due to the lack of recognition, Elliot said.
The roster is smaller, but the foundation is still the same. This team is learning what it takes to rebuild, one frame at a time.
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