D3 Belongs to History-Making Pennfield
March 4, 2017
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – James Ruoff and Haley Hooper starred in plenty of roles Saturday afternoon during the Division 3 singles bowling championships at M-66 Bowl.
They were comeback kids, winning MHSAA titles after Ruoff qualified as the No. 15 seed and Hooper made it as the No. 16 seed.
They were giant-killers. Hooper began her championship run by knocking off top-seeded Kendra Grandy of Birch Run – on Grandy's 18th birthday – while Ruoff knocked off No. 2 seed Adrian Hall of Corunna in the first round of match play.
And they were record-setters. Ruoff and Hooper, both sophomores at Battle Creek Pennfield, became the first boys and girls singles bowling champions from the same school in the same year in any division. And they did it on their home lanes.
It was quite a weekend for Pennfield, as the boys won the team title Friday and Ruoff and Hooper stole the show Saturday. Airport Lanes in Jackson has hosted Division 3 recently but had to give it up this year because the USBC men's state tournament is being held there, so M-66 Bowl stepped in.
“It's special for us, and it's great for M-66,” Pennfield coach Mike Roach said. “We had more people here, and they stayed longer to support the team if their son or daughter was done bowling, so that's great, and M-66 did a great job this weekend.”
So did the Pennfield bowling teams.
Ruoff won his title first Saturday afternoon, throwing the focus on Hooper, who was bowling at the opposite end of M-66 Bowl. Hooper had won her first game against Grand Rapids South Christian senior Hannah Bergstrom 187-159, and she closed it out with a 212 finish for a 399-325 victory.
“It was tough, but it's unforgettable,” Hooper said. “I was discouraged coming in. I normally don't bowl better on my home lanes, and I had a rough day Friday in team, and then I started off rough in singles.”
She started the six-game qualifying session with a 149, and she averaged 177 over her next five games to slip into the 16-player match-play field by three pins with a 1,034 total. As the games piled up, Hooper's wrist began to ache, so she found a distraction.
“I was singing a song to distract myself from thinking about my wrist hurting,” she said. “It was Beyonce, and the song was ‘Halo.’”
It worked. Hooper went into match play and knocked off the top-seeded Grandy 334-321. In the semis, Grand Rapids South Christian senior Tori Gaskell won the first game by 13 pins, but Hooper rallied with a 205 to advance with a 383-361 victory.
“That took a lot,” she said. “But being behind after the first game really gave me that extra motivation.”
Hooper had a lead throughout the championship match. After winning the first game 187-159, she fired a 212 for her 74-pin victory to complete the Pennfield sweep.
“I've seen it year after year where No. 1 seeds rarely win,” Roach said. “You've already put all your effort in, and once you get in, it's all a level field.
“It's who is going to make that quality shot and pick up that spare. And it's what are you going to do after you miss a spare, because everybody misses a spare, and Haley strikes nine out of 10 times after she misses a spare.”
Ruoff, who bowled anchor for Pennfield as it won the team title Friday, had a similar challenge. He averaged 180 for his first two games in qualifying before running off games of 195, 201, 213 and 179 for a 1,148 total – just 11 pins ahead of the bowler who finished in the 17th spot.
“I knew I needed to make a big push,” Ruoff said. “My Game 5 was good, and Game 6 I got on a pair that I couldn't carry, and I ended up going to that for one of my matches and ended up doing pretty well on it.”
In the first round of match play, Ruoff shot 245 in his first game and overwhelmed second-seeded Hall 416-313.
“I knew I was going to go against the two seed, but I went in last year as the third seed and got kicked out in the first round, so I knew I needed to do the same thing,” Ruoff said.
The tables turned on Ruoff in the Quarterfinals as Chad Birchmeier of Birch Run shot 244 in the first game to take a 41-pin lead. Ruoff answered with 237 in the second game to advance with a 440-396 victory.
“I just beared down and got some strikes going,” he said.
Ruoff defeated Caro sophomore Adam Jackson 380-350 in the semis, while top-seeded Gage Nickelson of Wyoming Kelloggsville was getting eliminated. Nickelson's qualifying run was amazing with games of 277, 207, 230, 231, 225 and 237. He topped 220 in each of his first three games in match play before games of 185, 190 and 135. Jonah Montney of Shepherd ousted Nickelson 409-325 to earn a spot in the Final against Ruoff.
Montney opened with four consecutive strikes to grab the lead, but Ruoff answered with four in a row late in the game to win the opener 216-199. Ruoff's 179 in the second game was enough to close out the championship with a 395-349 victory.
“I knew I could do it, but it was a matter of doing it,” he said. “The biggest thing I had to do was stay down in my shot. As long as I stayed down, it was flush every time. I had to fight popping up.”
Ruoff knows the house and lanes well.
“The thing with this place is each lane plays so different,” he said, “and that 's what makes this place so hard to score in. Sometimes the lanes are just like I remember bowling high school matches on here, and then another time it plays completely different.”
Ruoff's performance was not an unexpected one for his coaches.
“We were in here watching James, and we said, 'This guy is on a mission to win states this year.' He just worked hard and got it done,” Roach said.
The large Pennfield crowd had plenty to cheer about in what turned out to be an historic day for MHSAA bowling.
“I'm on top of Jupiter. I feel fantastic,” Roach said.
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTO: Battle Creek Pennfield’s Haley Hooper and James Ruoff stand together after sweeping this season’s Division 3 singles championships.
Mother/Daughter Pair Powering Gobles Bowling's Growth
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 14, 2021
GOBLES — When it comes to high school bowling, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond are perfect examples that the team sport is for anyone.
Brunner, a junior who began bowling when she was 3 years old, is the reigning MHSAA Division 4 girls singles champion.
Diamond, a senior, started bowling this year and has no experience other than birthday bowling parties.
In spite of the vast difference in experience, both are integral parts of the Gobles bowling team.
They also are the only girls on the boys team.
For the second-straight season, there was not enough interest to field a girls team, so Brunner and Diamond joined the five varsity male bowlers.
“When I first started bowling, I had to bowl against boys because in the U12 division in tournaments, we couldn’t get enough girls, so I’m kinda used to it,” Brunner said.
“It does help me because boys usually score higher, so it makes me work harder and harder.”
Diamond, who also is a member of the marching band, said bowling is similar in that it is not a gender-specific sport.
“The boys have embraced the girls as their own, and I think it’s made our girls better bowlers,” coach Karrie Brunner said. “Even though we do have a little bit of disappointment (because there is not a full girls team), it is fun to work with the boys, too.”
The Brunners, mother and daughter, were instrumental in starting the team.
When Brunner was a freshman, no bowling team existed at the high school.
“I promised Morgan that if she wanted to bowl in high school, I would coach her,” her mom said.
Athletic director Chris Miller gave the go-ahead, and a bowling team was born.
Interest in the girls team lasted just one year, so last year Morgan Brunner also bowled with the boys during the regular season. Girls are allowed to bowl on the boys team and then switch to the girls postseason as long as they compete in a minimum number of regular-season girls competitions.
At Regionals, “I was pretty much my own team,” the junior said. “I competed in individuals with the girls, which made me able to go to states and gave some of the freshmen (boys) who never bowled a chance to bowl at Regionals.”
Brunner made the most of her run at the state tournament.
Seeded third, she bested the sixth, second and top seeds for the title.
“I don’t think it really matters where you’re seeded,” she said. “If you work hard and get through all the matches, you should be good.
“You can come from the bottom and make it to the top.”
That experience has helped her become a better bowler, she said.
“Throughout my whole season so far, it’s taught me not to give up, even if you have a low game,” Brunner said.
“Stay positive throughout the day because that’s something I did at state, too, and it helped me.”
Having her mother as her coach is nothing new.
Her mom and dad, Scott, have coached her since she was a preschooler.
Her dad runs Scott Brunner’s Pro Shop at Continental Lanes in Portage, and when she was very young, “I’d go to the pro shop with my dad all day, so I would bowl all day,” Morgan Brunner said.
“I started bowling competitively at 9 or 10. I’ve just stuck with it since.”
During all those years, her mom, dad and grandpa Bill Keirns have been her three main coaches.
However, bowling every week with mom as a coach is a bit different than in tournaments.
“It’s mostly good,” Morgan Brunner said. “She knows what I’m working on and what I have to work on or if I need help on something.
“If I need something different and I don’t know what, she can help me with that. She tries to keep me positive.
“She knows everything about my game,” Brunner continued. “Even if she sees one thing that’s different, she’ll point it out and I’ll be like …” she said, shaking her hand.
Karrie Brunner said she is thankful for the bonding time with her daughter.
“I know sometimes it’s hard to have Mom around cramping your style, but I love that we get this bond and get to do this together,” she said.
“Her dad and I both coach her when she bowls individual events, but this just adds to the bond. To get to watch her become a leader on the team is really fun.”
Talking about wins and losses at home is a no-no.
“We have rules in our family that it stays on the lanes no matter what happens, whether it’s individual or team,” Karrie said.
“Scott and I had to develop that for our games, so we taught the girls that. She has to leave it at the bowling center.”
With no bowling center in Gobles, the team’s home house is Revel & Roll West in Kalamazoo, about a half hour away.
“It does pose some challenges, especially for the kids, but it was the best choice for us,” Brunner said. “We work with the kids if they can’t make it or need rides.”
New bowlers like Diamond have added to a worthwhile coaching experience.
Working with Diamond, “it’s fun,” Brunner said. “You’re teaching somebody to love the game that they can do when they graduate, when they get older.”
One area Diamond hopes to improve is “keeping my arm straight. It has a mind of its own,” she said.
Eric Phillips and James Goerke are the only other seniors on the team, and Oskar Wood is the lone sophomore. Juniors include Nolan Vanhorn and Owen Nuyen.
Brunner uses all seven bowlers in a match, subbing out so everyone has a chance to bowl.
The key to this year’s team is camaraderie, the coach said.
“The boys get along great and with the girls, I think they’re finally getting into their own skin,” Karrie Brunner said. “They’ve done it a couple years now, so everybody’s getting comfortable and they’re getting that desire that we can actually win.”
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) Morgan Brunner is returning for Gobles this winter after winning the Division 4 singles championship last season. (Middle) From top down, Gobles coach Karrie Brunner, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond. (Below) Morgan Brunner warms up before a recent match at Revel & Roll West in Portage. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)