Kamiakin junior rolls to state 4A bowling championship. Hanford cheer wins 2 titles
Hayden Bennett admits she just needs to stop overthinking when she’s on the bowling lanes.
Last weekend, at the WIAA 4A girls state bowling championship at Narrows Plaza Bowl in University Place, Bennett rolled her way to the individual state championship.
The Kamiakin junior rolled a four-game, 871 series, outlasting Bethel’s Regan Jacobs and her 843 pins for the title.
Bennett rolled a 183 to open the tourney, while Jacobs started with a 256.
“We felt she needed to average 195 over the four games,” said Kamiakin bowling coach Scott Biglin. “And after (Jacobs) rolled that 256, we thought she’d have to average more.”
Bennett said “I left that first frame open in the first game, and it scared me bad.”
But Bennett bounced back with a 264 (the best score in the field) in Game 2, and a 246 in Game 3.
Jacobs rolled a 256-199-231 in the first three games. Bennett was hanging on to a 7-pin lead after three games.
That left the final game, Game 4, and she held on with a 178.
“That was really scary for me,” said Bennett, who kept getting unsolicited reports from coaches and other bowlers that Jacobs was having problems getting strikes in that fourth game.
“Coach Biglin talked to me,” Bennett said. “He said ‘Don’t overthink it.’ So I just took some deep breaths and bowled.”
It came down to the fifth frame.
“That fifth frame, I got a strike,” Bennett said. “I tried not to glance at her score, but I couldn’t help it. I kept striking, striking.”
Jacobs finished with a 157 in Game 4, and Bennett won by 28 pins.
Biglin wasn’t really surprised Bennett won.
“We just knew, watching her in practice, that she had a shot to win,” said Biglin.
Biglin said Bennett was leading the Mid-Columbia Conference field in scoring average early in the regular season.
“But then she kind of got into a rut,” said Biglin. “Toward the end of the regular season, she got a new ball. Then she bounced back and finished fifth in the league scoring average, and made first-team all-conference.”
Bennett said she decided to quit overthinking.
“Toward the end, I just decided to have fun,” she said. “You want strikes. But if you can’t get the strike, you need to get the spare.”
It was a great ending to an interesting season for Bennett, who knows she has a target on her back for her senior season.
“Afterwards, my mom told my sister, who also bowls, ‘Lilly, you have some big shoes to fill,’” said Bennett. “I said ‘Are you kidding me? I have some big shoes to fill!’”
▪ Richland’s Malia Haynes placed 18th in the 4A girls individual tournament. She knocked down 662 pins.
▪ The Kennewick girls bowling team finished second in the 3A team competition last Thursday.
The Lions knocked down 4,734 pins in the competition — which consisted of four regular games and then 10 Baker games, in which each bowler takes a turn rolling a frame.
Only Spanaway Lake was better, rolling 4,887 pins for first place.
Kennewick’s lineup consisted of Paige Harns, Kassandra Foss, Kailey Johnson, Caidence Richardson, Calista Tippett, Kourtnie Foss and Sasha Valencia.
Tom Richardson is the Lions’ head coach, while Jeremy Holbrook and Diane Okerman are the assistant coaches.
Prairie’s Lilly Bash won the individual title with 781 pins, while Walla Walla’s Kaitlynn Beuck finished third at 760.
Kennewick’s Harns placed sixth with 732 pins, while teammate Kassandra Foss knocked down 680 pins to tie for 13th.
▪ If it seems weird having the head coach of the football program at a major high school in the state also being the head girls bowling coach, it doesn’t bother Kamiakin’s Biglin.
”Bowling has become a big passion of mine,” Biglin admits.
He says it started about seven years ago when high schools around the state started creating girls bowling programs.
“I was all over our athletic director, Casey Gant, back then about starting a program,” said Biglin.
It finally happened four years ago, and Biglin told Gant he was ready to start coaching. But Gant countered there was too much overlap between football and bowling for Biglin to do it.
“Fast forward to now,” said Biglin. “A new AD (Kyle Cowan) steps in.”
The Braves needed a new coach, and Biglin convinced Cowan he could make it work. So this was his first season, and he’s hooked.
Another big reason: Biglin’s daughter Melia told her parents she wanted to try out for the bowling team four years ago as a freshman. They paid for lessons for her, bought her a ball.
Biglin decided to take lessons too.
“It’s definitely a passion,” he said. He’s joined leagues — one with his mother as a substitute on a team called Outlaw Women, another with his wife and another couple.
His average fluctuates, he said, “but it’s around 185 right now. My highest game was a 278, but I’m really still learning. There is just way more to the sport. Things like balls, lane oils. There is a lot to learn.”
State cheer
Hanford cheer coach Kim Mayer had some shirts made this week, stating on the front “Hanford Cheerleading 12x State Champs”, with the years that the Falcons won titles.
“The back is my favorite!” she texted. “It says ‘some people have a story … we have a legacy!’”
That legacy continued on Saturday at the WIAA state cheerleading championships at Battle Ground High School, where Hanford won two more state titles.
The Falcons were the best of seven teams in the 4A Game Day Medium competition, earning a score of 91.5. That was better than second-place Union’s 88.8 points.
Hanford also won the 1A/2A/3A/4A Non-Tumbling Medium competition with a score of 77.2, just edging out runnerup Eastmont and the Wildcats’ 76.9 score.
Mayer confirmed that was the 11th and 12th state championships Hanford cheerleaders have won.
Members of the Falcons cheer squad are: Hannah Bazan, Riley Richardson, Shelby Shahl, Rayin Swentik, Rebel Wise-Hyde, Mia Woolery, Delaney Anderson, Carolynn McCulloch, Madison Manthei, Arabella Moody, Sophie Schumacher, Olivia Chittenden, Kadence Sanford, Megan Davis, and Angelyce Towndrow.