Pasco senior Karla Garcia was determined not to be a spectator at this year’s WIAA State Bowling Championships in University Place.
“Everyone on the team had that motivation (to go to state) because only two of the girls went last year,” Garcia said via telephone. “I wasn’t one of them. I said, “We’re taking the team to state. We’re all going.’ ”
This weekend, Garcia and Pasco teammates Neydeen Martinez, Carrie Nolan, Maddy Serrano, Mariko Sital and alternate Marissa Sital were competing for state hardware at Narrows Plaza Bowl.
After six games Friday and 14 baker games Saturday, Pasco finished with a score of 7,109 to place third behind defending 4A champ Battle Ground (8,052) and Cascade (7,192).
“They’re about bringing each other up, and they’re a team,” Bulldogs coach Teresa Chavez said. “They never fell apart. Even though some of them were having a hard day, they kept each other up.”
Kennewick High coach Oscar Garnica wants his bowlers to remember how well they worked together after taking fifth in the 1A/2A/3A standings.
Mark Morris repeated as state champion with a two-day total of 7,694, more than 500 pins ahead of Kennewick (7,183).
“It was a downer today for the coaches and the girls that we weren’t able to place as high as we hoped, but life goes on,” Garnica said. “They had a great season. They just have to keep their heads up.” Pasco and Kennewick finished fourth on Friday and looked forward to the quicker pace of the baker games.
“We were really excited and really energetic throughout the whole time,” Garcia said. “There were times we were tired, but we overcame that and we just kept up the energy.”
The Bulldogs’ high score of the day came in the 12th baker game, when they had a 188.
The Lions’ scores ranged from 135 in the final baker game to 180 in the eighth and 11th games.
Junior Daicee Singer said she and her teammates — Karissa Shiflet, Xochitl Garcia, Danielle Gonzales, Savanna Jones and alternates Viktoriya Uvarova and Sabrina Bare — kept an eye on what their opponents were doing toward the end of the day.
“We started to look and get nervous at how close we were, but we stepped it up and bowled our hardest,” Singer said. “We bowled our hearts out this weekend.”
Though Garnica admits the finish wasn’t what his team had hoped for, he’s ready to start preparing for another run.
“That’s our plan every single year — to go back and show our mettle,” he said. “Hopefully one of these days, we’ll get it all.”
Team scores — 1, Battle Ground 8,052; 2, Cascade 7,192; 3, Pasco 7,109 (Friday: 830-857-719-829-837-752; Saturday: 157 163-181-143-159-159-178-158-158-173-159-188-166-143); 4, Wenatchee 7,025; 5, Curtis 6,915; 6, Evergreen 6,756; 7, Puyallup 6,603; 8, Emerald Ridge 6,315.
Team scores — 1, Mark Morris 7,694; 2, Timberline 7,574; 3, R.A. Long 7,534; 4, Bremerton 7,291; 5, Kennewick 7,183 (Friday: 792-806-906-805-808-845; Saturday: 156-167-137-140-171-150-170-180-172-147-180-140-176-135); 6, Wilson 7,085; 7, Olympic 7,065; 8, West Valley 6,607.
Sun Downs jumps out of the gate with exciting start
