Harnden Takes Place in Eisenhower History as Program's 1st Singles Champ
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2024
ALLEN PARK – Utica Eisenhower has produced some great high school bowlers in past standouts Carter Milasinovich and Dylan Kelly.
You can add Dylan Harnden to the list.
The junior won his first MHSAA singles title Saturday at the Division 1 Finals at Thunderbowl Lanes, holding off 16th seed Ben Prokopec of Grand Haven, 393-375 in the championship match.
In doing so, Harnden became the first to claim a singles title from his school’s boys bowling program, annually one of the strongest statewide.
“Those guys have been a huge inspiration for me,’’ said Harnden. “Oh my God, they are super good and I always wanted to be like them. When I was with Carter my freshman year he was just giving me advice about how to stay mentally strong and how to physically get better at the game.”
Mark Harnden is his father and coach.
“I couldn’t be more proud,’’ he said. “Dylan is a student of the game. We talk though things. We made some changes during the course of the day, and they worked out.’’
Prokopec had to bowl in a roll-off to reach the 16th seed. He nearly made his improbable run a reality when he posted a 447-417 victory over Davison’s Joe Merz in the Semifinals.
Standing in his way was Harnden, who defeated 15th seed Albert Guzman of Farmington, 382-313.
Hartland’s Andrew Clark was the top seed at 1,319 pins in qualifying, while reigning champion Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott was second at 1,293 and Holt’s Nicholas Schaberg third at 1,289.
Utica Eisenhower had two finish in the top 16: Junior Kingston Corpus fifth at 1,275 and fellow junior Harnden sixth at 1,263.
New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior Michael Pupin and Grand Haven junior Prokopec each finished at 1,200 – two pins fewer than Macomb Dakota’s Landen Moore, who finished at 1,202 – to set up the roll-off for the final match play spot.
Prokopec won the roll-off 204-195 to advance against Clark. He kept the momentum going by eliminating the top seed, 375-292.
Prokopec’s next opponent was sophomore Brady Pettenger, who had bounced Tony Bain of Wyandotte Roosevelt, 352-343. Once again the 16th seed prevailed, 383-327.
Guzman, the 15th seed, downed Riley 436-423, and Ferris Eldred of Hudsonville eliminated Cole Rogus of Dakota, 423-393.
Grandville’s Bonham Pulcifer topped Evan Eagle of Monroe, 456-325. He moved on to face Merz, who had defeated fifth-seed Kingston Corpus of Utica Eisenhower, 409-320.
Merz outlasted Pulcifer, 397-334, and moved on to face Prokopec.
Nicholas Schaberg of Holt ended Landen Moore’s run, 434-429, to advance against Harden, who had defeated Matt Sprau of Portage Central, 377-362.
Harnden rolled into the Semifinals with a 435-407 victory over Schaberg, next taking on Guzman, who had defeated Eldred, 404-346.
Pennfield Aims to Build on Historic Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 19, 2017
BATTLE CREEK — The Battle Creek Pennfield bowling teams are building impressive resumes again this winter after finishing the 2016-17 season on a historical note.
The Panthers capped last season by claiming both the Division 3 girls and boys singles championships – becoming the first program in MHSAA history to sweep the Singles Finals – and a day after Pennfield’s boys won the Division 3 team title.
The success has continued into a new campaign. Last weekend, the girls and boys teams won the Battle Creek All-City tournament, the girls’ ninth consecutive title and the boys’ seventh. Both teams are 2-0 in dual matches with Interstate 8 Athletic Conference play beginning in January. And the boys earned the 100th win in school history two weeks ago against Sturgis – joining the girls, who reached the century mark last season.
Both James Ruoff and Haley Hooper are back this season after claiming those individual Finals championships in March. Both teams also are building for title attempts, although admittedly that path should be more treacherous this winter – Pennfield moved into Division 2, where it is one of the smallest schools.
Boys ready to climb again
The Panthers’ boys slowly worked their way up to last season’s team title, finishing third at the Finals in 2015 and second in 2016.
Program director Mike Roach, who works with both teams, credits fourth-year coach Rickie Hinds with the boys’ success.
“The first year I coached we were 0-11 and the boys never jelled,” Hinds said. “They never came together as a team, so I started preaching team unity and relying on each other. It’s not an individual sport.
“They came together at the end (of the 2016 season) and we ended up in third place. The second year after that, they jelled and we were .500. We ran into some stiff competition – let me tell you. They made a run to second.
“Last year, we won it all. It was a great feeling to win it all.”
Ruoff, a junior who has been bowling since he was 2 years old, threw a 300 last year and amassed an 800 series this year, both in youth leagues.
“Lindy Burton, owner of M-66, got me started,” he said. “My entire family bowled out here.
“Once I turned 4 she got me my first ball, and that’s when I really got into the youth leagues.”
Hinds said bowling is Ruoff’s passion.
“He was the young one, just a sophomore (last year), but he does a lot of extracurricular bowling,” the coach said. “He’s the one who has it in his heart; the burning, the yearning.
“The other guys bowl and like it but have other sports or interests. But when they came together as a team, they won it all.”
Ruoff said high school bowling intrigued him.
“I went to a few matches and Coach Roach talked to me when I was younger,” he said. “We’d been to some matches with my parents, and we saw how everything went,
“I like to bowl, a lot. As soon as I saw the competition, I was excited.”
Last season’s Division 3 Finals were rolled at M-66 Bowl, Pennfield’s home lanes, which was good and bad, Ruoff said.
“Not (good) so much for the bowling because this house plays really tough, but having all my bowling family behind me made a big difference,” said Ruoff, who was the 15th seed and upset second seed Adrian Hall of Corunna, 416-313, in the first round.
That was a reverse deja vu.
“The year before, I was the third seed bowling against the 14th seed, and I got knocked out first round so I had the confidence that I could do it,” Ruoff added.
In the championship match, Ruoff defeated Shepherd’s Jonah Montney, 395-349.
Ruoff, who lugs six 15-pound balls “with different cores, different drillings, different layouts” to each competition, also sparked the Panthers’ 1312-1129 win over Corunna for the team title the day before.
In his fourth season of varsity bowling, senior Sean Young also has been with Pennfield’s program since the rise began.
“That was all the tension buildup for us,” he said of the title run. “We were tired of losing.
“Our coach helped us with that. He’s a big mentor for us. When we’re down, he tells us how to get back up.”
Seeded 16th individually, Young lost to top seed Gage Nickelson from Wyoming Kelloggsville, 452-410, in the first round of singles but, “I ended up ninth in state because my series were so high first round.”
A key to a repeat team title is spares, he said.
“That was our biggest thing last year. We really, really improved on our spares,” he added. “If we repeat, we’ll be first team in the state to move up a division and repeat, so that’s our goal.”
Hooper leads focused girls team
Hooper’s road to the title was similar to Ruoff’s path.
As the 16th seed, she upset top seed Kendra Grandy of Birch Run, 371-301, in the first round.
In the championship match she defeated Hannah Bergsma of Grand Rapids South Christian, 399-325.
Hooper is not one to bask in her success.
“I never felt like I had it won until the end of my final match,” she said. “It was mixed feelings. I was on cloud nine, but the other girl was really upset and I know she could have beat me on any given day.
“Winning state was definitely a great experience, but I also know that a lot of those girls could beat me on any day. I had a good day.”
Hooper’s success is fueled by her ability to pick up spares, Roach said.
“She hits her target every time and if she doesn’t get a strike, she picks up her spares,” the coach said.
“She’s an outstanding spare shooter. She’s the most consistent.”
This season’s Division 2 tournament is at Super Bowl in Canton (M-66 also will again host Finals, but in Division 4.). And the Pennfield girls are of course motivated to make it a two-day event.
Bowling in the team competition the day before singles is a big help, Hooper said.
“It helped warm me up and get used to the lanes, but (it was tough) because it was so disappointing from losing the day before and then coming back the next day,” she said.
After the girls team won Regionals last year, it narrowly fell to Caro 1122-1120 at the Finals in the first round of match play.
Hooper said last year the team did not really bond, but this year the girls know what is important to advance.
“Staying focused in practice and really being a team,” she said. “It’s more team bonding and coming together as a family.”
Seniors dominate the boys team, which has just two underclassemen – Ruoff and freshman Carson Dyer.
Seniors besides Young are Trace Davis, Joe Larsen and Nick Hohnberger.
Just four girls join Hooper are their team: senior Megan Elwell, juniors Makayla Skidmore and Kelsey Kipp and sophomore Stephanie Woodman.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Haley Hooper, left, and James Ruoff practice recently; they were the Division 3 singles champs last season. (Middle) Senior Sean Young gets in some practice work. (Below) Clockwise from top left: Pennfield coaches Mike Roach and Rickie Hinds, Hooper and Ruoff. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)