TOPEKA — Chanute’s first postseason appearance saw Chanute senior Trenton Allen punch his ticket to the state tournament at the KSHSAA Class 5-1A Bowling Regional Championships last week.
Allen opened the event with a 232 in game one, followed by games of 184 and 202. Allen’s series score of 618 was just enough to sneak onto the list of state qualifiers with a 15th place finish.
“Trenton basically started bowling nine months ago, and he has climbed and scratched to a 192 average. That is strong,” Chanute head coach Roy McCoy said.
Having started the Unified Bowling season in October with an average just above 100, McCoy believes Allen’s biggest strength is his coachability.
“He is absorbing everything we tell him, and (assistant coach Austin Strack) is a big part of becoming the bowler he is,” McCoy said. “I just wish we had more time with him.”
Sophomore Jett Cosby missed the cut for state, thanks mostly to a tough final 10 frames. After notching games of 190 and 200, Cosby rolled a 167 to fall out of top-15 contention. Cosby finished his debut prep season with an average of 198.
Sophomore Jacob Pierce and freshman Noah Frey finished tied for 60th with a series score of 477, but Pierce was given the nod thanks to a high game of 185.
McCoy was quick to note that Pierce has been the most improved bowler on the boys squad, as he improved his scoring average to 135 over the course of the Unified and Scholastic bowling seasons.
“He works hard at it and gets flustered when he’s missing, but it’s not a mad flustered,” McCoy said.
Freshmen Tucker McKinsey and Malachi Wood bowled scores of 456 and 322, rounding out the team score of 2,951. McKinsey averaged 132 while Wood bowled 112 on average.
“We’ve been searching hard for that sixth man,” McCoy said. “They may be hot for a week or so before getting into some bad habits or losing focus.”
The Blue Comet boys finished ninth as a squad, just the second finish outside the top-3 this season. In the program’s first season, the boys brought home event wins five times to go with three runners-up and a third place finish.
The Chanute girls were unable to crown a state qualifier of their own, though senior Taya McKinsey missed the mark by just over 20 pins. Taya McKinsey finished the season with an average of 128.
“Some of these girls had never picked up a ball until (the week before) their first meet, and we went out and won two tournaments this year,” McCoy said.
Taya McKinsey rolled a 469 series, with a high-game of 195 in game one.
Emily Cunningham rolled a 415 series, and freshman Zoey Turner finished with a 387 after 30 frames.
Entering the meet with an average of just over 90, junior Katelynn Kennedy averaged 115 at the regional tournament. McCoy noted Kennedy has been the most improved bowler for the girls, improving at a similar pace to Pierce on the boys team.
“I swear, her ball hit the pocket on all but seven or eight frames at regionals,” McCoy said. “She’s there, she’s close and she’s so excited to come back next year.”
Elizabeth Thompson and Jaydin Clounch rounded out the Chanute lineup with series scores of 244 and 219.
The Chanute girls’ pin total of 2,101 was good for an 11th place finish, an improvement over the 15th seed the team was given before the meet.
Up Next
Allen joins nearly 150 bowlers in Wichita today for the KSHSAA Class 5-1 Bowling State Championships at Northrock Lanes.
“Trenton will have to stay focused in the moment, and control his nerves,” McCoy said. “This last week, we’ve really been working on slowing things down and calming down after every shot.
“He could make a top-10 if he gets really hot,” McCoy continued. “If he medals, I’ll be one happy coach.”
Results
Boys
15th: Trenton Allen - 618 (232, 184, 202)
35th: Jett Cosby - 557 (190, 200, 167)
60th: Jacob Pierce - 477 (185, 180, 112)
61st: Noah Frey - 477 (131, 173, 173) (146)
67th: Tucker McKinsey - 456 (125, 174, 157)
89th: Malachi Wood - 322 (115, 89, 118)
Team Scores: Topeka-Seaman 3557, DeSoto 3540, Emporia 3329, Topeka-West 3320, Shawnee Heights 3076, Ottawa 3021, Augusta 2959, Hayden 2955, Chanute 2951, El Dorado 2944, Circle 2853, McPherson 2775, Basehor-Linwood 2725, Newton 2650, Highland Park 2095
Girls
16th: Taya McKinsey - 469 (195, 147, 127)
38th: Emily Cunningham - 415 (136, 134, 145)
54th: Zoey Turner - 387 (138, 110, 139)
69th: Katelynn Kennedy - 346 (95, 133, 118)
86th: Elizabeth Thompson - 244 (80, 90, 74)
88th: Jaydin Clounch - 219 (72, 77, 70)
Team Scores: Topeka-Seaman 2968, Topeka-West 2705, Emporia 2675, Augusta 2592, Basehor-Linwood 2566, DeSoto 2404, Circle 2389, Hayden 2368, El Dorado 2211, Ottawa 2192, Chanute 2101, Newton 2097, Shawnee Heights 2071, Highland Park 2025
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