Vanier Finishes Sizzling Finals Weekend Adding Singles Title to Team Win

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 2, 2024

WATERFORD — Flint Kearsley boys bowling coach Bart Rutledge had a premonition fairly early about sophomore Jameson Vanier during the Division 2 Singles Bowling Finals.

After Vanier finished as the fifth seed coming out of the qualifying block, Rutledge said he turned to his assistant during the round of 16 match against Sparta junior Josiah Reister and offered this proclamation. 

“I told my assistant coach in the second game that he’s going to win (the state title),” Rutledge said. 

Rutledge’s instincts proved accurate, as Vanier continued a hot stretch to finish the season by rolling to the individual title. 

Vanier was sizzling in the Final, bowling scores of 254 and 235 to earn a 489-362 victory over Madison Heights Lamphere junior Nolan Pepper. 

It was easy for Rutledge to believe in Vanier, given that over the final three weeks of the season Vanier averaged around 240 and bowled a 300 game. 

“He’s been on fire,” Rutledge said.

Following a 407-322 win over Reister, Vanier went on to beat Carleton Airport senior Colin Peterson in the Quarterfinals (419-388) and Grand Rapids Northview junior Cadyn Pranger in the Semifinals (499-409), rolling a 275 in the second game. 

Vanier said when he was in eighth grade, he decided to switch from a one-handed throw to a two-handed method, and it has produced wondrous results.

“I thought I threw the ball a lot better, and I thought my potential was higher,” he said. “I got it right. It was comfort, and I scored a lot higher doing it.”

In the Final, Vanier only had two frames in the first game where he didn’t throw strikes, starting with three in a row and ending with three in a row.

Vanier struggled in the first part of the second game, but caught fire again late, finishing with seven straight strikes and letting out a furious yell after bowling a strike on his final ball in the 10th frame as teammates came to mob him. 

Pepper was seeded seventh out of the qualifying block and earned wins over Bay City John Glenn junior Nathan Gwizdala (374-346) in the round of 16, Warren Woods Tower senior Clinton Harris in the Quarterfinals (403-390) and Tecumseh junior Parker Ziemer in the Semifinals (395-344) before running into the buzzsaw that was Vanier in the Final. 

It was an unbeaten weekend for Vanier, who was a part of Kearsley’s second-straight team championship as well. 

With two more seasons left, Vanier might be a good bet to win another individual title. But for now, the multi-sport athlete will turn his attention to strikes of a different kind as a member of Kearsley’s baseball team. 

“It was a strike just about every time,” Vanier said. “I felt good every single time.”

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In Newest Bowling Role, Myers has EGR Boys Rolling

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 12, 2021

EAST GRAND RAPIDS – Hunter Myers is performing a rare double role in athletics this winter.

The Vicksburg High School graduate is the first-year varsity bowling coach at East Grand Rapids, while also competing as a collegiate bowler.

The 21-year-old Myers is a junior on the Aquinas College men’s bowling team.

His opportunity to take the reins of the program occurred while interning for Pioneers’ athletic director Tim Johnston.

“He lost his bowling coach, and he brought me in and asked if I would take it,” Myers said. “I thought that would be a great idea, and I thought I could help out a lot and try to make things a little better.”

Myers inherited a boys squad that had struggled in recent years. East Grand Rapids won only one match in 2019 and was 6-14 last season. 

This season was put on hold by the pandemic as high school sports were shut down in early November. But bowling was one of the first sports to return in January, and it’s currently been a season to remember as the Pioneers are experiencing a turnaround that few expected. 

“Things weren’t going very good for them, so I was looking forward to helping them in any way I could,” Myers said. “It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t complain one bit. I’m doing it for the kids, because when everything got shut down I didn’t even know if I would have a team.

“We had a girls team of seven and 18 guys came out so I was able to pick six and we’ve run with it ever since. I love the kids, and everything has been going well.” 

The boys team is currently 9-5-1 on the season after a loss to conference leader Byron Center on Wednesday.

That setback hasn’t diminished the vast improvement made by the Pioneers’ starters. Each bowler has made giant strides and improved his averages by 30-50 pins.

“I just got blessed with a good team with kids who are competitive and had some basics down,” Myers said. “They just needed some fine tuning, and now their averages have increased by a lot.”

East Grand Rapids has been led by junior Corbin Olsson, who boasts a 201 average.

Olsson averaged around 170 last season, but has seen his pin total rise through hard work and the addition of an experienced fresh face at the helm.

“I thought it was going to be good to have someone like him coach us because he has experience bowling in tournaments and bowling in high school and college, so he knows what it’s like,” Olsson said. “Last year was a pretty rough season, but with the new coaches and some new kids on the team it has definitely helped. 

“Coach has helped us with positioning, as far as where to stand and aim the ball. He also helps us to stay positive and have a good mental attitude toward the game.”

Junior Finn Moher is averaging 189, while the other juniors include Gavin Bishop (173), Cameron Brandstadt (176) and Michael Columbo (167).

Beau Stancil (151) is the lone senior.

Myers said he is pleasantly surprised by the team’s success.

“I didn’t know we would be doing as well as we have,” he said. “Now we’re third in the conference and we’re looking pretty good for Regionals coming up.”

While Myers has provided fresh insight to his team, he said his bowlers have dedicated themselves to getting better.

“They are putting in a lot of time on the lanes this year because they see what they can do, and they go out on their own and bowl together on the weekends,” he said. “We have two practices a week where they all work hard for an hour and a half, and we work on picking up spares and figuring out oil patterns as to what their ball is doing.”

Moher said Myers is showing the team different aspects of bowling that they didn’t know prior to his arrival.

“Just learning how to adjust to different lane conditions and how to move when our shot is not working,” he said. “He’s given us some confidence in ourselves and we’re starting to win, which has helped a lot. 

“Our first Bakers game is usually pretty good, but then the second one we don’t do as well. Individually we do really well, and I’m already looking forward to next year because I think we’re going to be really good with basically everyone coming back.”

Myers visited his former school for EGR’s first match, competing against his father James, who is the coach at Vicksburg.

Hunter won family bragging rights as the Pioneers rolled to a 26-4 win.

“My dad coached me in high school, and I called him and set up a match down there,” Myers said. “That was the first big surprise of the season, and that was a sweet victory for me.”

Myers said the parental support has been satisfying during the course of the season as East Grand Rapids has overcome past struggles en route to respectability.

“They think I’m some kind of wizard who made their bowlers really good, but they had it in them the whole time,” Myers said. “It’s just that nobody has really tapped into it.”

The Pioneers will compete next weekend at Regionals in Comstock Park.

“I think we have a shot at doing pretty well, and we’re definitely going to do a lot better than last year,” Olsson said. “It feels good to be on a winning team instead of one that loses all the time, and we all get along as a team. It’s been fun.”

Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. 

PHOTO: Hunter Myers, far left, is in his first season leading the East Grand Rapids boys bowling program. (Photo courtesy of the EGR bowling program.)