The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor rolls to Division I district crown
History is a tremendous motivator and teacher.
A year ago, the Mentor girls bowling team missed out on a Division I state bowling bid by 37 pins.
This time around, the Cardinals weren’t leaving anything to chance.
Paced by juniors Emma Randa and Maria Maneri, each of whom were on the all-tournament team with identical 625 scores, Mentor blew away the rest of the field at the Division I district in Warren.
Mentor finished with a 4,043 pin count, nearly 200 pins ahead of second-place Boardman’s 3,975. Green (3,813), Massillon Perry (3,788) and Canton McKinley (3,510) also qualified for the state tournament.
On the individual side of things, Kenston’s Jenna Stretch (604) and Trina Vokurka (598) were among the top five individuals from non-qualifying teams to advance to the state tournament.
“To be honest, the goal was just to be in the top five and get to Columbus,” Mentor coach Mike Phillips said.
“I never fantasized about winning the tournament. The girls came to play, and they earned this.
“Last year we missed by 37 pins. They didn’t want to make it close this year.”
It wasn’t close, period. After the three individual games, Mentor had 2,814 pins to lead the pack.
Come the baker games, the Cardinals didn’t slow down at all, collecting five games of 200-plus (including a 237 in the second baker game).
“We got a little tired in the sixth baker,” Phillips said of his team’s score of 157 in the final game of the day.
“The first five I was very pleased with.”
Aside from Randa and Maneri, Mentor’s top five included freshman Giana Amato (555), freshman Heather Walker (507) and sophomore Hailey Simmons (502).
A day earlier, Mentor’s boys team blistered the competition with a Division I district championship of their own with 4,597 pins, more than 200 ahead of second-place Boardman (4,597).
That means both Mentor teams will be in Columbus next weekend looking for state glory.
“I’ve been doing this for 12-plus years, and this is the first time we’ve gotten both the boys and the girls to win the district in the same year,” Phillips said.
“I don’t want to jinx it. Can we win it? Yes. Will we? Well there are 16 teams there each day, all with the same goal. Whoever has the hot hand and wants it the most will win it. Do we have a chance? Yes.”