{"id":34671,"date":"2014-12-16T10:56:32","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T14:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=34671"},"modified":"2014-12-16T11:34:08","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T15:34:08","slug":"bowling-teams-benefit-from-family-first-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2014\/12\/16\/bowling-teams-benefit-from-family-first-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Bowling teams benefit from ‘family first’ philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bowling<\/a>Wright State bowling coach Jeff Fleck uses two criteria to gauge the success of his program \u2014 what he observes in the bowling alley and what he observes at lunchtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go to The Hangar in Allyn Hall at lunch most any day, you might see a dozen of our kids hanging out together,\u201d Fleck said. \u201cWe believe in \u2018family first,\u2019 so seeing what a tightknit group this has become is very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

That chemistry has also led to an unprecedented level of success through the first half of the Wright State\u00a0bowling teams<\/a>‘\u00a0season.<\/p>\n

The Wright State women were No. 2 nationally and the men No. 9 in the most recent United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Team Ranking System rankings<\/a>. The women were actually ranked No. 1 through the first eight releases.<\/p>\n

Fleck, who worked with Mandy Wilson and Ty Davidson to start the program 10 years ago, said the teams have not both been ranked in the top 10 this late in the season since 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all local kids who work hard, have solid fundamentals and really enjoy working together to get better,\u201d Fleck said.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s team determined to regain momentum<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Women's<\/a>

The Wright State women\u2019s bowling team is ranked second in the most recent United States Bowling Congress Team Ranking System.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Wright State women reached the semifinals of the 2013 USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships. But, despite returning six of the top eight players from that team, the Raiders were eliminated in the 2014 sectionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expected to make it last year and we fell short,\u201d said Courtney Dingledine, a senior biology major from Mechanicsburg. \u201cI think we\u2019ll be back this year. The talent is about the same, but we\u2019re really clicking together.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Raiders qualify for the national tournament April 15\u201318 at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, it would mark their fifth appearance in seven years. The USBC event is the primary national tournament that combines all college women\u2019s programs (NCAA, NAIA and club teams).<\/p>\n

The Raider women have already won three tournaments this season \u2014 the Racer Classic (University of Northwestern Ohio), Cardinal Baker Classic (Ball State) and Falcon Classic (Bowling Green).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had some underclassmen really step up when we needed them to,\u201d said Shannon DeWitt, a senior business management major from Dayton. \u201cThere are other tough teams out there, but I think we can hang with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through seven events, DeWitt led the team with a 201.67 average, followed by Colleen Hines (197.09), Leslie Campbell (188.53), Jenna Wenning (186.82), Dingledine (186.5) and Sarah Endres (185.4).<\/p>\n

Youthful enthusiasm benefits men<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Men's<\/a>

The men\u2019s team is ranked ninth in the U.S. Bowling Congress Team Ranking System.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Wright State men began the season with 11 freshmen among 22 players. Early uncertainty was soon converted to confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found out early on that, for most of those guys, bowling is a top priority,\u201d said Brock Hines, a senior social science education major from Beavercreek. \u201cThey came here, went to work and got better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven players carry a 190 or better average; four are freshmen. Freshman Kyle Kessler leads the team with a 200.17 average, followed by Clay Stutzman (199.44), Nick Hatton (194.42), Jacob Vance (192.65), Luke Manger (192.58), Maxx Tamburino (192.36) and Brandon Weiker (191.87).<\/p>\n

\u201cTalent-wise, we\u2019re on a par with the team that went to nationals (in 2012),\u201d said Dillon Cromes, a senior middle childhood education major from Troy.<\/p>\n

Baker system fits\u00a0Raiders<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the Raiders can qualify for the USBC tournament again, they will benefit from a recruiting philosophy that emphasizes depth over star performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really fits well with the team concept,\u201d Fleck said.<\/p>\n

Five-person Baker team members bowl two frames each. The first athlete bowls frames 1 and 6, the second frames 2 and 7 and so on. The best bowler, or anchor, generally bowls frames 5 and 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can compete with anybody in Baker,\u201d Fleck said.<\/p>\n

Because so many athletes figure in the final outcome, team unity is often a natural development in collegiate bowling.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur players were all stars of their high school teams,\u201d Fleck said. \u201cBut when they get here, they learn right away how important it is to understand the team concept. Sometimes somebody else is going to take your spot. Sometimes you\u2019ll have to be a spectator.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of things to promote chemistry and camaraderie. That\u2019s part of the reason we have so many family members who travel to watch our matches. That\u2019s why our girls never shut up. They\u2019re constantly cheering for each other. That\u2019s why our men\u2019s team has such interesting dynamics between all those freshmen and the veterans. And, I think, that\u2019s why we have a program that can compete at a national level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State women’s and men’s bowling teams enjoying unprecedented level of success this season. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":34672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[729,725,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-campus","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34671"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34677,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34671\/revisions\/34677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}