'Teamwork' Fuels D2 Champs
March 1, 2013
By Sarah Jaeger
Special to Second Half
WATERFORD – If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
At least, that's what the Jackson Northwest girls bowling team decided to do.
After losing in the MHSAA Semifinals last year to Tecumseh and in the Quarterfinals in 2011 to Charlotte, the Mounties were looking to make it to the championship match and focusing on the things that would get them there – teamwork and communication.
"Even if we were sitting on the bench, we were all working together. We weren't putting each other down," Northwest senior Mikki Mathews said. “We were keeping our heads up."
That mentality helped Northwest win their first MHSAA championship on Friday, as it edged Ionia 1,262 to 1,221.
"I think both years getting knocked out helped us get a little push," Jackson Northwest coach Jerry Lobdell said. "It's been the same team. We're finally going to lose some seniors this year unfortunately, but it's been the same team that's been through everything."
Not only was it the first bowling championship for the school, but the first MHSAA Finals championship in any sport.
While the day ended on a sweet note, the road started off worse than expected. After the morning qualifying round, Jackson Northwest was seeded seventh.
"Starting the day off qualifying a little lower wasn't exactly fine," Lobdell said. "But you have to win three matches to do it, and that's what we did."
"We knew we weren't out of it," added Mathews.
"Today it was somebody different that had a big game. It was either Mikki or Sabrina (Yearling)," said Lobdell. “They all stepped up at different times."
The last obstacle for Northwest was Ionia, which finished 10th to just miss qualifying for match play in 2012.
Ionia just made it to the Quarterfinals this time, qualifying in the eighth and final spot.
"We were down and didn't think we we're going to make the cut at first, and ended up taking that eighth spot," Ionia assistant coach Lloyd Thurlby said. "After that, we knew we were going against number one right off the get-go, so the girls just really pulled together and today it was just awesome to watch them jell."
Ionia went on to knock out top seed Tecumseh and then number four seed Charlotte by only nine pins to earn the opportunity to bowl for the title.
"Even to be a state runner- up is something to be very proud of," Thurlby said. "We have a few girls on this team who have two Regional trophies, and now they have a state Final, so that's a pretty neat thing to take back to the school. Obviously, it's something, you want to be on the other end of it. But we can accept that. I think those are things that build a good program, so if you can learn how to lose, then you can learn how to win."
While the girls teams were playing for redemption, the boys finalists were looking to make a name for themselves.
Sturgis and Lapeer West, both making their first Finals appearances, squared off in the championship match.
But, in the end, Sturgis pulled out a victory, 1,326 to 1,154.
Like the girls, both boys teams credited teamwork and communication for helping them make it to the Finals.
"Without it we would have been lost," Sturgis senior Logan Kulpinski said.
"We fed off of each other," Lapeer West senior Tyler Skene said. "When one was down, we just kind of bounced it off each other and kept it up."
Skene's coaches agree.
"You just encourage them to talk to each other and keep each other up," West co-coach Don Bell said. "That's kind of what we went at today, trying to get them to communicate more as a team themselves, and encourage each other; don't let one guy get down and pull the team down. When one guy goes down, everybody else picks them up. One frame doesn't kill you. You've got four other bowlers behind you."
While they had each other to lean on, the first-time finalists also had to contend with its emotions.
"There's a lot of emotions," Sturgis coach Brandon Smith said. "There's a lot of games. Their emotions kept going up and down and Logan, Skylar (Robinson), they kept each other up and they kept everyone else up."
"We could see it especially in that last match when we were bowling against Sturgis," Bell said. "We were up on the Bakers 100 pins, and we got up to bowl that next game and every bowler in that first frame, you can tell they were nerved up. But Sturgis bowled a good game last game. You have to give it to them. They had the carry and we didn't."
However, it's not just bowlers who feel the pressure. Even coaches can experience some anxiety.
"I lost more hair over it this time than any," West co-coach Chuck Skene said.
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
Boys Aim to Add to Vandercook Lake Legacy
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
December 23, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – At Vandercook Lake, bowling is family.
The girls coach has a son and a nephew on the boys team.
The boys coach has a daughter who was part of three girls teams that won MHSAA Finals championships.
In fact, the girls have won five Finals titles – while the boys are still searching for their first.
And in the middle of it all, both teams had to find a new home.
OK, maybe it sounds a little like a dysfunctional family, but that is far from the truth. And this year, the boys have a high-scoring team that is capable of contending for that first championship.
“We're trying to bring one home for the boys,” sophomore Korey Reichard said. “We're trying to break that barrier.”
Vandercook Lake won the Division 4 title in girls bowling in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Reichard's sister Kelsea was on those teams, as was Malloree Ambs, daughter of boys coach Libie Ambs.
“My first year when I took over the boys, we were state runner-up,” Libie Ambs said. “It's always in the back of my head. My daughter bowled on three of those championships teams, so I know what's there, and I want one for the boys.”
Last year, Vandercook Lake made it to the Division 4 Semifinals before losing, and it lost just one person from that team. In December of 2015, the Jayhawks slipped into the state record book with a team game of 1,228 – No. 10 in state history, regardless of division, according to the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association. Four of the five bowlers on that team are back this winter.
Just a week ago, Reichard had a two-game total of 520 – a 260 average – but he was second on his team to senior Zach Cecil, who averaged 267 for a 534 two-game total.
Those explosive scores, paired with last year's runner-up finish and the school's rich tradition in bowling, make the Jayhawks a team to watch at most events, especially around Jackson.
“We've always said there is a target on our back,” Libie Ambs said. “People know about the program and what's coming out of it, and there are people who watch and pay attention to our scores.
“Some of the boys don't worry so much about it. I tell them to keep their composure. People are going to watch you and talk about you, and you are going to have big crowds behind you. Those are the things they need to get used to.”
Making a splash
Vandercook Lake is far from a one-person team, but one person has a better resume than the others: Reichard, who already has been featured in the “Faces in the Crowd” section of Sports Illustrated. On Jan. 21, 2012, Reichard bowled games of 265, 257 and 278 for an 800 series becoming, at age 10, the youngest bowler in history to reach 800 for three games.
“That 800 gave me a lot of confidence, but I didn't really understand what I did the first few years,” he said. “Now I know what it means.”
Reichard's top series since was 780, and on Oct. 15, he bowled his first 300 game, which he said was a greater thrill.
“Because I hadn't done it yet,” he said. “The 800 was kind of like a shock, and I didn't understand it as much because I was 10.”
Reichard's parents, Todd and Jill Reichard, have been top bowlers in the Jackson area for many years. His older brother, Casey, and older sister, Kelsea, had success on the high school team, so he had plenty of role models growing up.
“My mom and dad have been a huge influence, especially my dad,” he said. “He's coaching the girls now, and I've watched probably 10 years now with my brother and sister on the teams, and now I'm in my second year.
“My mom just watches the high school matches, but she plays a bigger role in the tournaments that I bowl in on weekends.”
Reichard also participates in the Michigan Junior Masters Association and the West Michigan Junior Gold Tour. The experience he has gained in those tournaments has helped him learn different lane patterns and gain experience.
“There are lots of tough patterns that we bowl on,” he said. “Every shot is tough, and there are some really good players, especially in the MJA, and that is great competition.
“There are a lot of state bowlers there, bowlers of the year, state champions. It has helped ground me and help me to get better because there's always somebody better than you. I keep working every day just to get better.”
Last year as a freshman, Reichard averaged 231.2 over six games during the Division 4 Finals qualifying block to earn the top seed in match play. He showed great consistency in the qualifying with games of 223, 229, 245, 232, 242 and 216, but he lost in the second round of match play when he rolled back-to-back games below 200.
“My goal is to bring a state title home and try to get academic all-state,” he said. “Academics are first in my mind.”
Teammates helping teammates
Coach Ambs said the most gratifying part of this team is how they help each other on the lanes.
“I am most proud of these guys for their ability to work together,” she said. “When somebody sees something, he will come back and say something like, 'My ball did this,' or 'My ball did that.' They talk to each other about the lanes, and they do that quite a bit.”
Reichard leads the team with a 241 average, while Cecil is second at 232 and sophomore Conner Lackey – Reichard's cousin – is third at 220. Three juniors round out the team: Tyler Strawser (182), Keegan Campbell (180) and Hunter Storm (173).
“We always talk to each other,” Cecil said. “We're always giving each other advice.”
Lackey said they all know each other's games so well that it makes it easy to help a teammate when he is struggling.
“I think having a supportive team – with our bowling background – has helped a lot,” he said. “We know everybody's game so well that if somebody throws a bad shot, we know the adjustment that needs to be made.”
Perhaps the trickiest part of Ambs' job as coach could be working with Reichard while his father, Todd, is on hand coaching the girls. But they make it work quite smoothly.
“Todd and I have worked together for enough years that if I have a question about Korey – and Korey and I can't talk about it – I will ask Todd,” she said. “Or Korey will say, 'I'll go ask my dad,' or Conner will say, 'I'll go ask my uncle.'
“It is a little bit of a challenge with him being right there, but it's not a bad challenge. If they need or want him, then I will let them talk to him, or I will go stand with the girls and he can go and talk with them. However it has to happen. We do coach very well as a team, and that's the good thing about it.
“It's nice to have him there.”
Losing a home, finding a new one
It wasn't that long ago that Jackson was home to five bowling establishments. It is down to two, and one of the losses was Summit Lanes, a 50-lane house located just a mile or so from Vandercook Lake High School. It was the Jayhawks' home house, and when Summit closed in the summer of 2014, the team moved to Airport Lanes in Jackson.
“When it first closed, I was a little bit devastated because for the three of us, it was pretty much our second home,” Lackey said. “We'd had tournaments at Airport, but overall we didn't bowl a lot here. I feel like we've adjusted, and it's starting to become our second home.”
Cecil said, “It was tough at first and kind of a shock. It came out of nowhere. We picked each other up from that big blow, and here we are.”
The core of the team began bowling years ago in the Saturday morning youth leagues at Summit.
“We all grew up together,” Cecil said. “We were good friends growing up, and bowled on the same team in youth leagues, and now we're a team again."
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Vandercook Lake’s Zach Cecil watches one of his rolls. (Middle) The Vandercook Lake boys bowling team, with coach Libie Ambs (right). (Top photo courtesy of MLive/Jackson Citizen Patriot; middle photo by Chip Mundy.) (Below) WXYZ-TV reported on Korey Reichard's 800 series in 2012.