Snow wasn’t the only thing that took New Jersey by storm last weekend.
Kansas University’s men’s club bowling team finished a surprising second in one meet in the Garden State and a satisfying sixth in another.
“It was one of our best weekends ever,” KU coach Mike Fine said.
At the Colgate Collegiate Invitational in Maple Shade, N.J., the KU men wound up second out of 37 teams, bowing only to Saginaw Valley State, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation. SVS recorded a score of 9,825 to KU’s 9,736. Morehead State was third at 9,723.
Later, the Jayhawks finished sixth at the snow-shortened Collegiate Winter Classic in nearby Cherry Hill, N.J. Saginaw Valley State also won that meet.
“It was unfortunate it had to be shortened by snow,” Fine said, “because we were really bowling well late in the meet.”
Kansas went into the New Jersey swing unranked ” but I’ll bet we will be now,” Fine said.
Mike Keeler, a junior from St. Charles, Mo., led the Jayhawks with a 230 average in the first tourney and a 215 average in the second.
KU’s other bowlers were Tom Partridge of Olathe; Marc D’Errico of Rochester, N.Y.; Eric Topham of Derby; and Jesse James, a sophomore from Lawrence.
“I was very pleased. It was a great trip,” Fine said. “Those are the highest two finishes we’ve ever had in a winter tournament.”
Two years ago, the KU men advanced to the national collegiate tournament in Wichita, but last year they just missed qualifying at the sectional finishing fifth when only the top four teams advanced.
Fine also took a women’s team to the two tourneys in Philadelphia’s New Jersey suburbs. The KU women finished 11th out of 21 teams in the first meet and 13th out of 19 teams in the second.
Kristina Boehm, a sophomore from Olathe, led KU with a 204 average. Tiffany McBurney, a soph from Corvallis, Ore., was second at 194.
Next for the KU bowling teams is the Blue and Gold Classic on Jan. 27-28 in South Bend, Ind. The sectionals will be in late March and the nationals in late April.
KU’s bowling teams are sponsored by Jay Bowl and the Kansas Union. However, the bowlers themselves supply the bulk of the money to support the programs by holding fund-raisers throughout the year.
“Some of them have very small (bowling) scholarships,” Fine said. “Fortunately, a lot of them have academic scholarships.”
