Flames take 5th at MIBC Championships
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Flames wrapped up MIBC play for the season with a fifth-place finish at the championships Sunday.
The College of Saint Mary bowling team opened bracket play against Hawkeye Community College and took a 218-177 loss. But the Flames rallied to beat Iowa Western Community College 185-170 and then knock off Wartburg College 171-160 to claim fifth place.
"We started the day off slow having trouble covering our spares," CSM Coach Corrinne Johnson said. "Hawkeye Community College took advantage of our mishaps and took us out in the first three games.
"In the second round we went against Iowa Western. We won the first two games but they answered with a pair of 200s to take it to the fifth game where our ladies were just hungrier for the win. In the third round we were up against Wartburg. They won the first game and we got fired up and took the second and third games. The fourth game went back and forth and it came down to both team's anchor bowler to strike out so we would tie."
That's when Hannah O'Neal stepped up big for the Flames.
"Hannah fired off three strikes and Wartburg missed which gave us the win to finish out the MIBC Championship tournament in fifth place," Johnson said. "Even though we struggled at the start I was proud of how the ladies came together and worked hard to finish the tournament strong.
"We held our fifth-place status throughout the season and I was happy with our consistency."
O'Neal took 11th place individually through all MIBC events with an average of 173.8. Teammate Madison Barnes was 17th with an average of 168.8 to also land in the top 20 for the season.
The Flames are off until Feb. 7-8 when they compete in the Kohawk Invite.