SMYRNA, Tenn. – Milligan University's men's bowling squad competed in a pair of one-day tournaments hosted by the Mid-South Conference in the Nashville area this weekend. In each of the two events, the Buffaloes placed in the top half of the tournament standings, placing fifth out of 17 in the Greater Nashville Open on Saturday and seventh of 17 in the Brandon Burns Memorial on Sunday.
Day one's format was four team games and eight baker games, as the Buffaloes teamed up to total 3,990 pins through the four team battles and 1,637 additional pins in the bakers. That put them in fifth as a team with 5,627 pins overall.
Milligan's top bowler on Saturday was actually
Jackson McRae, who bowled as a member of the JV squad and placed 12
th in the individual standings. He bowled a 238 in team game No. 3 for his top output of the event, and totaled 856 pins to average 214 per game.
Cameron Shockey posted yet another top-20 result, finishing in 17
th for the varsity team. He notched a game of 241 pins to open the event, and ended up toppling 851 pins to average 213 across four team games.
A freshman,
Sean Jenkins, was next on the list for the Buffs. He came away with a strong 20
th-place showing and felled 843 pins to manage a 211 average.
Kayden Lamon bowled for the JV squad, and placed 29
th overall, totaling 819 pins for the event. Then,
Xander Stephens placed 33
rd with 813, and
Matthew Coppola rounded out the list with 782 for the JV squad in 45
th place.
Day two followed the same format, and the Buffs scored the third-highest mark through the four team games with 4,128 pins. They struggled in the bakers, however, as their 1,533-pin total was the sixth-lowest mark out of 17 squads. They came away with 5,661 pins to place seventh.
Freshman
Chance McLane was a top-10 finisher in 10
th place for the Buffaloes on Sunday, knocking down 888 pins in four team games to average a program-best 222 pins for the day. He started the day with his best game, scoring a 236 to begin the tourney.
Shockey was again in the top 20, continuing to bowl consistently. He has finished in the top 20 in each of his three tourneys this season. He placed 13
th at the Brandon Burns Memorial, scoring 864 pins.
Jenkins also placed in the top 20 for the second time on the weekend, finishing with 850 pins in 17
th. McRae finished 27
th with 835 pins toppled for the JV squad, and Coppola placed 48
th for JV with 794 pins to round out the list of top-50 finishers.
"This group is still figuring each other out," said head coach
Brian Rickert. "We showed some flashes this weekend with a 5th-place finish at the Greater Nashville Open and 7th at the Brandon Burns Memorial, but we know there's still a lot of work to do. I'm proud of the way these guys are buying in and competing, and I'm confident that if we keep putting in the work, we'll keep moving in the right direction."
Following the results from this weekend, the Buffaloes will now look forward to next weekend, when they head down to Marietta, Ga. for the Bowlero Southern on Nov. 1-2.
Saturday
RESULTS
Sunday
RESULTS
