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.
Performance: Flint Kearsley's Imari Blond
January 24, 2019
Imari Blond
Flint Kearsley junior – Bowling
A two-time all-stater and last season’s MHSAA Finals singles runner-up in Division 2, Blond is well on her way to building one of the most impressive bowling careers in state high school history. Sunday saw her add to the pile of accomplishments – Blond rolled a tournament-best 749 series including a perfect 300 games at the Flint Metro Championships to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Blond is averaging 219 pins per game with a match play record of 20-1 for the Kearsley dynasty – the Hornets have won five straight MHSAA Division 2 championships and carry a 115-match winning streak as they seek their 10th straight undefeated conference finish in the Flint Metro League. Blond made the Division 2 singles quarterfinals as a freshman before last winter advancing to the championship match, where she was edged by Wayland senior Sydney Urben in two-game pin fall 409-356. Her 300 game Sunday was only the fourth in Kearsley’s storied girls bowling history, and she’s also won the two other tournaments she’s bowled in this winter, with a 653 series at the Bay City John Glenn Holiday Tournament and teamed with Lawson Boshaw at the Davison Holiday Mixed Doubles Tournament.
Blond started bowling early, learning from her mother Duwana Ragland and older brother Quinton and sister Quinisha Burnett. Blond still holds the Flint youth city record with an 810 series she rolled as a seventh grader in 2015. She’s anticipating following her siblings into college bowling – both competed at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne – and is interested in studying elementary education.
Coach Robert Ploof said: “This girl gets it. She is so mature for her age, and she totally understands the team concept and she understands that she needs each and every one of her teammates for her to be successful. She has great sportsmanship as she is always rooting on the competition as well as her own teammates. She is a natural leader and was named a team captain as a freshman; this year she is a co-captain with our only senior on the team Alexis Roof. Imari and Alexis are most likely the best two girl bowlers in the state, and they work well together and both understand their roles. Imari has a very special talent, but if you spoke to her she will not tell you how good she is – she is very humble and in fact continues to work hard to be better. Imari is going places; the college coaches are calling and showing up to watch, she will be offered a big scholarship someplace, but none of that has changed her focus. She is just an incredible teammate and just a great kid, and we are very blessed to have her at Kearsley.”
Performance Point: “I got excited (about the perfect game) because I did joke around with my coach Rob before we even started the game,” Blond said. “I was like, "I'm about to shoot 300 this game" and I actually did, so I was pretty excited about that. I was just kidding around, so I was actually really surprised when I actually did it. … I'm actually very proud of how the year is going. I didn't expect it to be this good, but I started the season off with a pretty good average and I was hoping that I could keep it up there. … Right now, I just try to get better. I feel like I can be better than I am now. I always want to be better than somebody else. I look up to other bowlers like Jordan Richard (of Tecumseh High and now Professional Women’s Bowling Association fame), or other famous bowlers, and I just try my hardest to be like them or be more than them.”
Final step: “I made a really big goal for myself to try to win (the Division 2 Finals) this year. I was ready last year, I thought, but I guess my mindset just wasn't up to where it's supposed to be. I feel like I'm ready this year though. … Thinking too much is really the worst thing you can do, stressing about it. I have my sister as an assistant coach, so she helps out more with my attitude and stuff like that, and not to think too much on things and just do my game.”
Carrying on the dynasty: “I'm really happy to be welcomed into the (Kearsley) team and welcomed into the winning streak that we have. When we won the state title my freshman year, we were already planning to win the next one the year after. That's just a mindset thing. We already have it set in our minds that we're going to dominate. I honestly think it's the team themselves. If the team doesn't get along, then they won't work together. And I feel like our team gets along very well. Our spirits are always high. Usually when someone bowls badly, there's always someone else to pick you up. And we always compete with each other, so that really keeps us up.”
Following family: “My mom used to bowl in a couple leagues, and she put my brother into bowling and he was just naturally good. We didn't have a lot of coaching. He had to figure stuff out by himself. ... I was 4 when I started, and my mom usually just encouraged me to keep it on the lane and get pins. And then, more as I developed into getting into the technical things, my brother started coaching me a little more (and) my sister got into coaching a little bit.”
Student, also teacher: “I work well with kids. I work at the Richfield Bowling Alley, and I work with kids, teaching them how to bowl. Most of them are just there to be there, but some of them really care about bowling and I like that. So I try to encourage them to do better, to go and practice more and try to get more serious about it. I tell them all the time – you can get scholarship money, you can do big things with bowling.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Kearsley's Imari Blond competes earlier this month. (Middle) Blond and her teammates hoist the Division 2 championship trophy to conclude last winter. (Photos courtesy of the Kearlsley girls bowling program.)