Girls Singles Finals: Four Strikes
March 4, 2012
BATTLE CREEK – Ann Arbor Huron freshman Allison Morris has been in pressure situations before.
She’s an accomplished youth bowler, and she’s bowled in matches with the Huron boys team. But not much could prepare her for the deficit she found herself in during the MHSAA Division 1 Girls Singles championship match Saturday at M-66 Bowl.
Morris trailed Clinton Township Chippewa Valley junior Kristen Young by 50 pins heading into the second game of the two-game singles match, and was rattled.
“I was kind of out of it. I didn’t know what to do, but my coaches just said don’t worry about it; bowl like you know how to do. Throw strikes. You can do it.”
Fans were scoreboard watching as Morris mounted her comeback. But she was unaware of the ground she made up in game two.
Morris ended with four straight strikes to finish with 224 and the first bowling title for Huron High School.
“I wasn’t looking at the score. I had no clue, I thought I was down. It was really nerve-wracking,” she said.
“It feels really good. I’m just really happy that I came back and won it.”
Division 2 at Century Lanes
WATEFORD – Tecumseh’s girls now have three Singles champions in nine years of bowling being an MHSAA-sponsored sport.
But even after reaching the Semifinals last season as a freshman, Jordan Richard never expected to become that third winner from her school – or second from her family.
With sister and 2010 champion Kara Richard cheering her on, Jordan finished first in qualifying and then edged reigning champion Lindsay Ploof of Flint Kearsley 425-413 in the Semifinal. Richard defeated Flint Northwestern’s Alonna Tipton 469-382 in the championship match – winning their first game by 15 and second by just two pins.
“Going into today, I never imagined winning. There are a lot of girls out there that are just as good as I am,” Richard said. “Everyone always says I’m following in (Kara’s) footsteps. But it’s really good to have Kara there behind me."
Tecumseh also finished runner-up to Ploof’s Kearsley team in Friday’s Team Final.
"Going into yesterday’s finals, we weren't expecting to win,” Richard said. “Flint Kearsley is a great team. We're all sophomores. So yesterday was just a learning experience, and I learned from it and took it to today."
Division 3 at Airport Lanes
JACKSON – Wyoming Kelloggsville was not going to leave Airport Lanes without an MHSAA championship. After Saturday’s Singles Semifinals, that became guaranteed.
The Rockets fell in Friday’s team Semifinals, ending their 2011 title defense. But on Saturday, seniors Chelsey Purdum and Jessica Lubbers faced off in the Singles Final.
Purdum, last season’s runner-up, edged Lubbers – the 2010 Singles champion – with a two-game score of 370-353.
“While this is my last year of high school bowling, I have been blessed at Kelloggsville High School to have talented bowlers year after year,” Purdum said. “And to go out with a state championship and runner-up is unbelievable.”
Purdum will continue her bowling career next season at Grand View University in Iowa.
Division 4 at Century Lanes
WATERFORD – Unionville Sebewaing's Kyleigh McCarthy was the only freshman to make the Division 4 match play Sunday.
She had to wait an extra day to compete -- a power outage at Sunnybrook Lanes pushed the Singles Final back a day -- line up to bowl at a different center, and then take on the favorite in the championship match.
None of that seemed to bother her.
McCarthy scored her first MHSAA title in her first high school season, defeating Sandusky senior Lillie Miller 342-332 in the Final. Miller, a senior, also was runner-up in 2011.
PHOTO of final eight match players at the Division 1 Final. Click for detailed results from all MHSAA Singles Finals.
Standish-Sterling's Vallad Jumps from 47th as Junior to No. 1 in Final Match
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2025
JACKSON — Paige Vallad has simple goals entering the Division 3 girls singles bowling championship Saturday at JAX 60. She wanted to see improvement from last year.
Mission accomplished in a massive way.
A year after finishing 47th during the qualifying round of the Singles Finals, the Standish-Sterling senior brought home a championship, outlasting Milan junior Maggie Smith, 363-295.
“I just wanted to make the first cut,” Vallad said afterward. “I was hoping to get the top 16, which was better than I did last year, and end on a good note. I never thought I’d be here.”
Vallad helped her school to a double-dip in Jackson by winning the title a day after the boys team captured its first Finals trophy.
“It was a grind, it was hard, but it was worth it in the end,” she said.
Vallad qualified fifth after the six-game block with 1,156. Jacey Thibodeau, a Madison Heights Bishop Foley junior, blistered the lanes to lead qualifying with a total of 1,394, boosted by a closing 289 game.
Vallad ended Thibodeau’s day in the semifinals 350-322 after Thibodeau averaged 214 in her first two matches. Vallad reached the semifinals by defeating Cheboygan senior Alicia Vieau 372-318 and Grass Lake junior Marielle Schafran 409-393.
She started slowly in the championship match, opening in her first three frames. But she erased those with three strikes in a row and only opened two other frames, including the 10th frame of the second game when the result was already decided.
Vallad celebrated the victory with a tight embrace from her coach and father, Jason, who took over the program just this year.
“It’s his first year coaching, and it was awesome,” she said. “The best way to end my senior year. He was there with me through the whole moment. He kept encouraging me and was the best coach I’ve had throughout the years.”
Jason Vallad knew his daughter could hold her own in the tournament, especially considering she gains added revolutions on the ball by employing a two-handed delivery style.
“It’s pretty unbelievable,” he said. “I knew she was a good bowler, but to come down here and compete at this level, they’re all good bowlers, so I’m super proud and happy for her.”
Smith qualified as the second seed with 1,255 and was red hot during her first three matches. She defeated Boyne City senior Victoria McGeorge 404-396, Armada junior Maggie Fradle 482-374, and Livonia Clarenceville senior Caitlyn Johnson 401-364.
Her 482 total on games of 258 and 224 against Fradle was the highest two-game total of the day.
In the championship match, Smith struggled to games of 136 and 159, but her coach Linda Towler said the future is bright.
“She is great inside and out,” Fowler said. “There’s just not enough I can say about her. She’s in the bowling alley every day honing her skills. I’m just so proud of her.”