ROCKINGHAM — Recently crowned the state runner-up, all five members of the Richmond Senior High School girls bowling team have been named the Official Richmond County Female Student-Athletes of the Week presented by Rockingham NC Self Storage.
The impressive feat was accomplished by seniors Neely Turner and Katie Way, juniors Hanna Smith and Ava Thompson and sophomore Jentry Denson.
The Lady Raiders qualified for the top four in the state, and advanced to the state title match with a victory over Lumberton High School. Richmond came up one game short of its first state championship against Pinecrest High School.
CLASSROOM CREDITS WITH THE LADY RAIDERS
Four of the team’s five bowlers are dual-enrollment upperclassmen at Richmond and Richmond Community College, while Denson is a student at the Early College.
Collectively, the five Lady Raiders boast a 4.57 weighted grade point average as a team. Thompson has the highest with a 4.64 GPA.
Smith follows with a 4.61 GPA, Turner has a 4.60 GPA, Way sits with a 4.58 GPA and Denson has a 4.42 GPA. All five bowlers have As to start the new semester.
Way is taking Music 110 and Sociology 210 at RichmondCC and English IV Honors and a sports management internship at Richmond. She also is a part of the National Honor Society and a three-sport student-athlete, with softball underway and volleyball in the fall.
Turner is also taking Music 110 and Sociology 2010 at RichmondCC, while also being enrolled in Annual Production Honors and Junior Leadership Honors at Richmond. Actively involved on campus, Turner is a member of the Beta Club, National Honor Society and senior senate, and also played tennis.
Thompson is in the midst of five courses this spring, including Spanish 112, Math 172 and Economics 252 at the college. At Richmond, she’s taking AP Biology and Chemistry Honors. Thompson is also involved with soccer, which started last week, and the Beta Club,
Smith is also taking five courses this semester. She’s enrolled in English 112, Spanish 112 and Math 172 at RichmondCC. At the high school, she’s taking Chemistry Honors and Sociology Honors. Her extracurriculars include playing tennis and soccer and being in Beta Club.
One of a number of student-athletes who attends REaCH, Denson is enrolled in Physical Education 110, English 111, Spanish 112, History 131 and Math 3 Honors. Denson is a member of the Early College’s Beta Club and student senate, and plays tennis and soccer, too.
“RUNNER-UP” WITH THE LADY RAIDERS
Each team at the state tournament, held at the Sandhills Bowling Center, rolled four qualifying games to determine the top four. The Lady Raiders notched the No. 3 seed with a pin total of 617, bowling scores of 153, 152, 178 and 134.
In the semifinal round, No. 3 Richmond eased past No. 2 Lumberton in a best-of-three series. The Lady Raiders won 2-0 with scores of 146-133 and 167-121.
That set the team up in the state championship match against familiar foe Pinecrest High School. Richmond wasn’t able to out-bowl the Lady Patriots and lost 2-1 to finish as state runner-up. Richmond bowled games of 117, 140 and 120.
As a unit, the Lady Raiders closed 55-of-95 total frames across the qualifying games and the two matches. That gave them a .580 closing percentage, and the team collected 26 strikes and 29 spares.
During the tournament, Way had a team-best .830 closing percentage (15-of-18), with Smith just behind her at 12-for-18 (67%). Thompson, who bowled in the anchor spot and added five extra frames, went 12-for-23 (52%).
Both Denson and Turner closed eight of their 18 respective frames, totaling a .440 closing percentage.
Way (466 pins) and Thompson (448 pins) both competed in the individual state tournament but just missed the top-10 cut to make the All-State team.
RAPID RESPONSES WITH THE LADY RAIDERS
The Richmond Observer: What are your thoughts on the team finishing in second place this season, and what are some ways you hope to get better?
Denson: Finishing second in the state is something I never thought we would get to do, but we worked hard over the course of the season to achieve that. Our team spends time with each other outside of bowling and I feel like that helps with our connection and ability to push each other to be better.
Bowling is not the first sport for any of us, but we all have enjoyed it and will continue to practice and work to get better in the offseason.
The Richmond Observer: How would you define “student-athlete” and explain how the bowling team showed this throughout the season.
Smith: What being a student-athlete means to me is being able to perform not only in your sport, but in the classroom as well. It takes responsibility and discipline to keep up with your work in order to participate in these extracurricular activities.
I’m in Beta Club and play three sports, so making sure I stay on top of my work is always my first priority next to performing well on the field, court and at the bowling alley.
The Richmond Observer: What are some of your favorite memories from your senior season of bowling?
Turner: Some of my favorite memories from bowling were the team celebrating after every bowl, all of the fun times at practice, and of course going to states and placing second.
I’ll miss the team, the memories, and most of all, the fun times that we shared from the sport.
The Richmond Observer: What would you say were some of your most exciting moments during your one season with the bowling team?
Way: This season was so exciting to compete in because the whole team was competitive and wanted to win. We were all each other’s biggest fans, and we all got along very well.
It’s so exciting that we finished in second because basically the whole team was new to the sport. When you play against other teams that have been bowling for multiple years, I’d say that’s a pretty big accomplishment for us.
The Richmond Observer: What makes this team a special group of student-athletes?
Thompson: This team is special because of our dedication to both academics and athletics. We’re all committed to maintaining good grades in school and devoting time to practice so that we can improve.
Many of us balance both college courses and high school courses, while also being a part of clubs within our school. To have a completely new team and be able to grow enough so that we can place second in the state is a huge accomplishment, and I’m looking forward to being with most of the girls next year.
The Richmond Observer will publish its Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week soon.
