The Tribune Staff Reports
The 2018-19 Seymour High School bowling team recently conducted its annual awards program.
Owls head coach Shannon Kelly opened by thanking volunteer assistant coaches Robert Field and Toby Lawson for their commitment to the team this past season.
The boys bowling team had an outstanding season, and Kelly made sure to recognize all of the accomplishments.
“This year’s team has been a work in progress for several years, a team patiently waiting to gel,” Kelly said. “They jumped out of the gate with a state top-10 series score in their first meet. They battled hard at every meet, and it shows in their postseason awards.”
The Owls finished as conference champions at 12-2, leading the conference in total pins, high game and high series.
They went on to claim the sectional championship, which was a first for a Seymour boys team. The Owls then finished fourth at regional, seventh at semistate and 10th at state.
Thanks to their 10th-place finish at state, the boys have been invited to compete in the 2019 U.S. High School Bowling National Championship. This season’s event will be June 22 through 24 at Expo Bowl in Indianapolis. The team event is June 23, and the singles event is on the other days.
The all-conference team included Trevor Lawson, Colton Hayes, Trace Cooper and Micah Maschino from Seymour. Hayes and Lawson were named to the IHSB All-Region team, and Hayes was second team all-state.
The Ambassador Award, which recognizes tournament success, winners for this season, as a regional qualifier, were Andre Sides, Luke Lanam and Cooper. The Ambassador Award winner as the regional champion and semistate qualifier was Hayes.
In the spirit of the Ambassador Award, coach Lawson suggested an additional award for this year.
“It is a great feeling as a coach when an athlete hits their season’s peak at the right time,” coach Kelly said. “One such bowler that reached their peak at the right time to step in and help us fill some very important frames that pushed us to the sectional championship, our regional and semistate finishes was our sixth-man award-winner: Kenny Kelly.”
Kenny Kelly was the most valuable bowler of the junior varsity team, while Maschino, Cooper and Hayes shared most valuable honors for the varsity.
A sportsmanship award was presented to Lanam, and Trevor Lawson was named the Owl Bowler of the Year.
“The Owl Bowler of the Year is an award that we give to celebrate a season of hard work, improvement, consistent leadership and dedication to the team,” coach Kelly said. “He was an MVB last season. This season. he led the conference in average at 191, had the conference high series at 460, was all conference and IHSB all-region team. He may have been disappointed with his sectional singles, but he continued to lead the team and support his teammates throughout the state tournament.”
Junior varsity achievement award-winners included Tyrell Duncan, Jake Schlatterer, Wyatt McKinney and Erika Corya.
The most improved bowlers were Trey Morris and Angelina Corya, and team spirit awards were given to Sides, Morris, Lilly Kelly and McKinney.
This year’s varsity letter recipients were Lanam, Morris, Maschino, Lilly Kelly, Kenny Kelly, Trevor Lawson and Angelina Corya.
