State champion Triway bowling team set to compete in national tournament

It's been nearly four months since the end of the high school bowling, but don't tell Corby Anderson.

Since Triway captured the Division II girls bowling state title in late February, the Titans' coach is still on cloud nine.

And he wants to keep that momentum going.

"I'm thinking of this weekend as a continuation to our season,” Anderson said. “I'm expecting the same thing. They're excited about it and the kids' dedication is unbelievable. I love it."

Triway will be back in action this weekend as the defending champs will take part in the U.S. High School Bowling National Championship this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

The three-day event will be held at Executive Strike & Spare Lanes, with a team tournament on Saturday, before shifting to a singles competition over the final two days.

Over 600 bowlers from 20 states are scheduled to take part in the USHSB National Championships, an event that is put on annually by U.S. High School Bowling Foundation.

While this weekend will be the first team competition since the group won the title over Napoleon, this group has been working since. With practices every weekend over the past month and a half, and the roster busy playing in at least one of the two summer leagues offered at Triway Lanes, adjusting their work schedules and opting to get back to work after some are still recovering from spring sports.

That commitment is something that Anderson feels gives them a slight advantage heading into this national competition.

“I would imagine for a lot of teams that are at this tournament, it's hard keeping them together. Not just for the practice, but for the team unity,” he said. “We've been lucky because the girls have really worked around their work schedules and sports, so we've been able to practice.

“Out of our six girls going to nationals, all six of them are at least bowling one night of summer league and four of them are bowling both nights, so it's nice that they're still throwing the ball.”

Leading that charge is reigning state medalist Emma Yoder. The incoming junior was the individual state champ in Div. II with an impressive three-game average of 718 and posted a 210 average this past winter. Yoder was one of two players averaging over 200 per match, fellow junior Addy Meshew being the other, with Danielle Densmore (184 average) not too far behind, Meshew had the area’s highest game score last season (269) — just two pins better than Densmore — and paced the Titans with a 513 two-game average.

Those three will be joined by Kennedy Finley, Lindsay Miller and Sydney Wile as the Titans will get to focus on the team competition first before competing against each other in singles action.

“We have the same team going into next season and that's a big thing; just them being used to each other,” Anderson said. “I like how the team and the singles are divided up (this weekend) because, at the state tournament, it's all you're bowling everything at once. But, hey, Emma made it look easy last year. It's not an easy thing when you're concentrating on winning as a team.”

Defending national team champ, SNS Boats (Ill.), is back to defend its championship, while Maia Struble of Dimond High School (Alaska), who was fourth last summer when the competition was held in Dayton, is the highest placing individual returning.

But these Titans are no stranger to a little competition.

The format of the event will be slightly different than the tournaments the group is used to in Ohio, but Anderson knows that his team will be ready the minute they make their approach and spin the ball down the lane.

“It's definitely going to be a different kind of tournament,” he said. “When we went to state, there are a lot of girls from other teams that we see at other tournaments, so we know what we're going up against. For this, there are going to be some kids from Ohio, but it's a lot of teams that we don't even know who they are.

“It's going to be an exciting thing and something different.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Bowling: Triway headed to play in national tournament