Bowling season ends at sectionals

by Eric Keppeler
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, March 3, 2007

They acquitted themselves pretty well, but they had hoped for better.

The Lewiston-Porter bowling team went into last weekend’s Section VI Championship with title aspirations and the hope of moving on to the state tournament. And while the boys and girls each placed third among Class B teams, their seasons came to an end, as only the top finishers qualify for states.

“I’m very proud of the team,” third-year coach Mike Kankolenski said. “It would have been great if we’d gotten the sectional title and gone on to states, but we still had a great season. Everyone showed a lot of improvement from start to finish.”

The Lancers also were blocked out from sending any members to states on the Section VI team, which takes the top six individual scores from sectionals.

Kankolenski said that the lane conditions were brutal, but they were the same for everyone. In previous years, at least a 1,300 is likely needed to qualify for the state team. This year, the cutoff was 1,248.

“Everyone struggled with the lane conditions,” Kankolenski said. “We didn’t bowl as well as we’re capable, but we didn’t bowl badly, especially compared to the other schools.”

The boys finished eighth overall in the 53-team field with a total of 5,510 pins. Senior Zane Tester had the high series for the Lancers with an 1,165, followed closely by senior Jeremy Janese at 1,154

“We weren’t ready for the lane conditions,” Janese said. “We hadn’t bowled on these kind of lanes all year, and we weren’t prepared for it. It was wet on the outside and dry in the middle, and not all of our team knew how to adjust. By the time some people did, it was too late. We couldn’t make up the difference.”

The girls wound up 11th overall. Junior Savannah Zientara led the way with a 1,080, missing the individual state cutoff by 26 pins.

“I’m so proud of the girls because they’re such a young team and they placed so well,” Kankolenski said. “If they actually think about how well they really did, it should give them a lot of confidence for next year.”

The Lancers were well represented on the Niagara Frontier League all-star teams.

For the boys, sophomore Kyle Donovan made the First Team with a 217 average. Janese (207) made the Second Team and freshman Mike Grannis (202) and Tester (201.9) made the Third Team.

For the girls, Zientara was a First Team selection with a 207 average. She also earned a trophy for the high single game this season in the NFL with a 279.

Senior Tabitha Dominguez (185) made the Third Team.

Sophomore Barb Ventry earned the team’s Most Improved Player award after boosting her average 27 pins over the course of the season.

“Next year will be challenging,” Kankolenski said. “We’re losing some great bowlers, but we’ve also got some very good young ones coming up. It should be interesting.”