Oxford’s Lafnear bowls way to state finals
STERLING HEIGHTS — Macomb Dakota, New Baltimore Anchor Bay and Utica grabbed the top three slots in the boys competition and Anchor Bay, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley and Sterling Heights Stevenson were the top three finishers in the girls competition at the Division 1 regional at Sterling Heights’ 5 Star Lanes Friday-Saturday.
The top three boys teams and top three girls team from each regional advance to the Division 1 state finals March 4-5 at M-66 bowl in Battle Creek. Also advancing are the top 10 finishers in the singles competition.
Dakota (3972), Anchor Bay (3854) and Utica (3783) led the charge of state qualifiers in the boys standings. Troy Athens led local schools by finishing seventh (3698), while Oxford (3424) and Troy (3305) finished 12th and 14th, respectively.
Both Oxford and Troy won regional crowns last winter, but both suffered through major rebuilding campaigns this season.
In the boys singles competition, Utica’s Anthony Mazza led the charge with a 1282 total, followed by Dakota’s Brad Berak (1251), Port Huron’s Dylan Jacobs (1225), Stevenson’s Brian Busch (1217) and Anchor Bay’s Shawn Bibee (1195) in the top five.
Troy’s Josh Hulten just missed an individual berth, finishing in a three-way tie for 11th (1164) and missing the cut by only five pins. Ben Nelson of Athens finished in 29th (1102) and teammate Chris Dye (1076) was 39th rounded out the local competitors in the top 40.
Anchor Bay’s 3767 team total was tops in the girls field, with Chippewa Valley(3623) and Stevenson (3575) following in the other qualifying spots.
Oxford, which won a regional title in Division 2 last season but made the jump to D-1 this season, finished fourth with 3532 points. Athens finished 11th (3067) and Troy 13th (2680) in the 14-school field.
In the girls singles competition, Rachel young of Chippewa Valley won with a 1177total. Anchor Bay’s Sarah Lokker (1173), Jericka Mazei (1170) and Kayla Gregoire (1140) took the next three slots and Oxford’s Heather Lafnear was fifth (1127) to become the only local bowler to make the cut.
Melissa King of Troy was 26th (992), Oxford’s Caitlyn Wroblewski finished 32nd (966) and Troy’s Beth Dahike placed 40th (936).
Category: High School, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Troy, Troy Athens
