Williams Lake’s senior and bantam youth bowling teams were lining up strikes Sunday when they both qualified for the B.C. Bowling Championships.
Competing as part of the Cariboo North zone in the YBC 4 Steps to Stardom Zone Finals the senior team of Cole Broen, 16, Adam Thomas, 16, Jayden Chan, 16 and Alex Airey, 17, and the bantam team of Dawson McFarlane, 8, Caleb Beculiak, 10, Austin Berston, 9 and Adam Holtom, 10, outmatched their competition, both finishing first in their division.
On the senior side Cariboo Bowl tossed a combined four-game score of 3,027 to win the gold medal over Dawson Creek (2,961) and Terrace (2,944).
Senior team coach Morgan Mailhiot said due to poor road conditions all three teams bowled at their respective alleys before phoning in their scores.
“Game one we scored a [combined] 742, then we had a bit of a stumble in game two,” Mailhiot said, adding the team dropped to a score of 683. “But by game three it was up, up and away. By the last game we really started to rally around one another.”
The team recorded scores of 761 and 841 to cap off its tournament.
“It was very close,” Mailhiot said. “At game three we were 36 behind. If they bowled anything over 805 we were done.”
The bantam team, meanwhile, dominated its competition of Terrace, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Prince George and Smithers.
Cariboo Bowl finished with 2,113 points, hammering the second-place team of Terrace Lanes which finished with 1,908 points.
The team, co-coached by Charlene Wiege and Kelli Williams, has been working hard for its results, they said.
“They came together really well as a team,” Williams said. “Lots of cheering. They even had a check frame where they all had strikes, so that’s pretty impressive for bantams.”
As for provincials, both teams’ coaches think they have a good shot a medalling, however, will need to adjust to a different environment.
“That’s a whole different can of worms,” Mailhiot said. “There will be six teams and as opposed to zones everyone brings a large cheering section. It gets loud.”
In order to win a medal Mailhiot said the team will need to bowl combined scores of 800 or better, which he added is definitely within his group’s capabilities.
“They know what they need to do and they’re dedicated to it,” he said.
Williams noted if the bantam team bowls like it did at zones they should be in the running for a gold medal.
“As long as they bowl over 500 they should come home with a medal,” she said. “They’ve been practicing regularly and all want it bad.”
The senior team will bowl at Willowbrook Lanes in Langley, while the bantam team will be at Scottsdale Lanes in Surrey from Feb. 27-28 at provincials.