ADDISON, Ill. - Hailey Triske claimed the second all-tournament team honor for William Woods on the year, leading the Owls to a fifth-place finish at the Warhawk Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The men's varsity squad earned 15th in the 24-team varsity field, with
Lucas Newman topping the individual leaderboard for Woods in 32nd.
"Both teams are starting to gain confidence in themselves and in one another," said head coach
Bill Holbrook. "The women have qualified for bracket play in two of the three opportunities on the year and now have two all-tournament finishers, while the men have improved significantly over the past few tournaments. We are definitely making the progress I was hoping for and knew we were capable of."
For the first time this season, both teams competed at the same venue, with Stardust Bowl's 84 lanes well-equipped to handle a combined field of 70 teams (varsity - 24 men, 22 women; reserve - 16 men, 8 women) comprised of nearly 500 student-athletes.
After six individual games on Saturday, Triske was joined by
Trista Rauma atop the women's leaderboard, with Triske's 196.33 average (1178 pins) good for third and Rauma's average of 190.67 (1144 pins) locking down 10th. Rauma also had the best individual line for Woods on Saturday, with her 246 in game five edging out a 240 for
Savannah Edmonds.
Newman averaged 195 (1170 pins) for WWU on Saturday, with
Patrick Schultz (59th - 184.2/1105 pins) and Charlie Burns (71st - 177.3/1064 pins) also finishing in the top third of the field.
In baker game play on Sunday, the Owls moved slightly up the team standings, finishing with a total pinfall of 8,185 after the 16-game round.
After climbing from 17th to 11th on Saturday, Woods continued strong into the women's baker schedule, moving up to seventh after the first pair of four-game blocks. The Owls slipped to eighth place after the third four-game set, but managed to hold on to the finish with a solid 703 over the final four baker games.
WWU drew top-seeded Mount Mercy for the opening round of bracket play. Despite a pair of solid games, missed spares haunted the Owls in a 2-0 loss (186-173, 209-165) to the Mustangs.
After finals, WWU travels to Las Vegas for a pair of USBC Tier 1 tournaments hosted at South Point Casino and Resort. The Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational is first up on Dec. 18-19.
