DALLAS (March 7, 2019) – Everything is new for Oklahoma Christian's inaugural bowling teams, but this weekend will provide a particularly pleasant "first" for the Eagles and Lady Eagles.
The first-year club programs made the cut for the U.S. Bowling Congress' Intercollegiate Sectionals – the first stage of the collegiate postseason – which will run from Friday through Saturday at USA Bowl in Dallas. Twenty men's teams and 16 women's teams will compete, with the top four teams advancing to the Intercollegiate Team Championships, set for April 17-20 at Poelking Lanes South in Dayton, Ohio.
OC's men are the ninth-highest seed while the women are the 11th-highest seed in their respective tournaments, which use a grueling format – 32 Baker games on both Saturday and Sunday, with total pinfall for the 64 games determining which teams advance.
Top men's teams in the tournament will include No. 3 McKendree, No. 5 Wichita State, No. 10 William Penn (Iowa), No. 14 Midland (Texas), No. 18 Newman (Kan.) and No. 22 West Texas A&M, with the Eagles seeded No. 34. On the women's side, the leading contenders will be No. 3 seed Wichita State, No. 8 Midland, No. 11 Newman, No. 14 William Penn, No. 23 McKendree (Ill.) and No. 25 Ottawa (Kan.), with OC at No. 48.
"The field is loaded and in my mind is the toughest of the four sectionals," OC coach
James Hayes said. "It's two very long days and if you are going to come out on top, then you need everyone on the team clicking on all cylinders. It's definitely a grind. I feel we are probably being overlooked as a threat but I believe that we have the talent to make a run."
The event also will include qualifying sessions on Friday for the Intercollegiate Singles Championships. Bowlers will roll six games, with the top four men and women advancing to the national singles tournament on April 16-17 (qualifying and match play) and April 20 (semifinals and finals), also in Dayton.
This season, OC's men have won two tournaments, the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Circuit V in Richardson, Texas, and the SWIBC Championships in Shawnee. Freshman
Josh Imhoff earned SWIBC player-of-the-year and rookie-of-the-year honors, while fellow freshmen
Sam Butler and
Andrew McCann also received All-SWIBC recognition.
The women won the SWIBC II tournament in Amarillo, Texas, in September. Sophomore
Melissa McConnell and freshman
Taylore Ryan received All-SWIBC honors.
"These kids have worked really hard all year to get ready for this weekend," Hayes said. "I am proud of all their accomplishments to date, but as I have said before, I just don't think we are finished yet. It's going to be a fun and exciting weekend to say the least. This weekend it is all about our motto and that is One Heartbeat!"
