The women’s bowling team just finished their season on Friday, March 11. They ranked fifth in conference as a team by the end of their season. 

Abigail Clark is a senior who just finished her college bowling career. The women’s bowling team had been practicing two hours a day and three days per week at the Backyard Bowl in Milan, IL. Clark shares the goal the team had and why they were practicing so much. 

“We were trying to be better in the first half of the season and aiming for the conference in the second half of the season,” Clark said. 

Some of the players, including first-year Madelyn Lathrop, mentioned how they are feeling that they finished their season fifth at the CCIW tournament. 

“I am a little bit sad that the season ended earlier because we were so close to the next tournament which only four teams can go to. And we placed fifth.” Lathrop said. 

Although this was Lathrop’s first season, she ranked third in the individual tournament. 

Lathrop talks about how she felt about being ranked third in the individual tournament. While she is satisfied with her individual performance, she is still not satisfied with the team’s performance and trying to be better as one of the members of a whole team. 

“It was challenging for me, and I am happy about the result and I am proud of myself. But, I want to be more supportive of the team so the team can go to the next step,” Lathrop said.

Senior Sophia Osborn went through her last season in college. She shares the same feelings of sadness about the season-ending but is also proud of her team.

“I am also sad that the season ended earlier. We could have gone to the next tournament and kept our season going,” Osborn said. “But, there are a lot of improvements in the team. It is good for the team to see the improvements compared to the beginning of the season.”  

Although she thinks the result was not necessarily good for them, Osborn said that what they gained during their season is priceless. 

Lastly, Clark looked back on her four years of experience of college bowling. 

“I played bowling for four years at college, which was a great experience. Also, it has been really fun, which was the goal,” Clark said. “We came back at the end of the season, and we were competing very well. I am now thankful for the whole team.” 

She also mentioned her bowling life after graduating. 

“I will keep bowling, but this time, it is for more fun, not competitive. I have been bowling for 16 years and I do not want to stop playing,” Clark said. 

Clark said she thinks the team could’ve made it further, but also has improved a great deal from the team they were at the beginning of the season. She thinks that even though they could not go on to the NCAA tournament, it is essential that they gained a lot of skills and improved a lot. 

“I was upset about the result that we finished the season with fifth and ended earlier. I think that we could have been better than we did,” Clark said. “However, a couple of last matches were much better than the games at the beginning of the season and we won more times than we did at the beginning of the season.”