By Elizabeth Hasko and Cami Reynolds, staff writers 

Sophomore phenom Kylee Higby bowled in the state finals today at Dutch Lanes in Ephrata, Pa. where she placed eighteenth out of 24 for the girls division. “It was really tough because it was so competitive. Plus, the lane conditions were insane,” said Higby. She shot a 196, 210, 143, 160, 169, and 185.

Higby was the lone Saegertown bowler to qualify for the state tourney, but the team overall enjoyed a very successful season. After Winning the Venango-Crawford district title for the second year, bowlers Ricky Kanline, Michael Costello, Austin Bedow, Kylee Higby, and Nick Archaki moved onto regionals which were held in Pittsburgh at Princess Lanes during the weekend of March 10-11.

Higby shot an average of 189, placing her sixth out of 84 in the individuals. “I am thrilled that we won [the league] for the second time in a row.  I am so proud of everyone,” Higby said.

During regionals, individuals competed at 9 a.m. Friday morning, while the team competed at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Unfortunately, senior Jake Sada could not attend regionals due to other priorities.  

Kanline shot 182, 224, and 256 at regionals. “This year started off a little shaky, but then a few weeks into bowling, it was like all of us became the family that we used to be,” Kanline said. “As the year progressed the bond was back, and we started to win as a team.”

Heading into regionals, the team wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but they remained confident. “You can’t count eggs before they hatch. We just have to go with the flow and keep confident,” Archaki said. “We didn’t do very well [at regions], it was really tough. We bowled against 17 other competitive teams. Unfortunately, the pins didn’t fall very well for us.”