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.)
Kearsley Aims to Begin Next Title Streak
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 4, 2021
Reigning Division 2 girls bowling singles champion Megan Timm doesn’t have to go far to find a high level of competition and keep herself sharp.
The Flint Kearsley senior just has to go to practice.
“We’re each other’s biggest competition, for sure,” Timm said. “You always want to beat whoever you’re with, and it’s made us want to work harder when we have that friendly competition. Our challenge matches are pretty much formatted like state was, so getting that competitive atmosphere outside of tournaments is a good way to prepare you for those competitions.”
Timm is one of four returning individual Finals qualifiers for the Hornets this season, joining classmates Allison Eible, Allison Robbins and Emilea Sturk. They form the core of a Kearsley team looking to get back to the top of the division after having its six-year run of Finals team titles snapped a year ago.
Having to be at their best just to maintain their desired spot in the lineup is a good way to prepare.
“It’s intense,” Robbins said. “It’s crazy because it’s been this way since our sophomore year. We were all taught to bowl together when we’re in a team setting, and we do that when we’re bowling Bakers and bowling singles (within a team match). But obviously, when we’re bowling singles tournaments, we’re also bowling against each other.”
A year ago, Timm and Eible advanced to the match-play portion of the Finals, with Timm going on to win after earning the 15th of 16 qualifying spots. She became the third individual champion in the program’s history, finishing off on a high note what had been a disappointing weekend for Kearsley.
The day prior, Kearsley lost in the semifinals of the Team Finals against eventual champion Mason. While a run to the state Final Four may count as an accomplishment for most programs, the Kearsley girls were devastated, as they had won the previous six titles, and seven of the last eight. It was also the final match for coach Rob Ploof, who was retiring after leading the program to all of those titles.
“It was an exhausting day,” Sturk said. “There was just a lot going on. When we started to lose, I think we just kind of felt like we had already lost it. We just couldn’t get back. It was weird, because we always come back. There was a lot of pressure, especially with it being (Ploof’s) last year. We wanted to win so bad for him, and we wanted to keep the streak alive, of course. The pressure just really got us.”
Coach Kevin Shute, who previously coached at Dryden and was the JV coach at Kearsley a year ago, made sure to talk through that Finals disappointment with the team.
“They tried too hard,” he said. “They tried a little too hard there. They were reflecting back and looking at it, telling me all of the things they would have done differently. I think those four girls for sure are definitely hungry.”
The disappointment quickly turned to motivation.
“I think after last season, we were really disappointed with our finish,” Eible said. “And seeing we are seniors, we are more determined than ever to finish our last season out on top and add to our accomplishments. We have all worked so hard to be where we are today, and I’m so proud to call these girls not only my teammates but my family.”
The Hornets had an early test of not only their ability, but their resolve, as they opened their season this past Saturday against Swartz Creek. After falling behind 12-7, they rallied for a 17-13 victory, extending their regular-season match win streak to 132.
Maintaining a decade-long streak could add more pressure, but it’s something the Hornets have become used to carrying.
“Sometimes, but to be honest, I don’t ever really feel (the pressure),” Sturk said. “I’m just focused on bowling and focused on uplifting my team if we’re doing bad. I try to keep my attitude up and keep everybody’s attitude up. We go into a match never expecting to lose. We try to go into a match with as much confidence as possible, because we can’t -- basically we can’t lose because of the streak. It feels like, if we lose, that would be the weirdest feeling.”
Joining the core four seniors on varsity this season are fellow senior Rhyan Langdon-Yaklin, junior Lydia Boggs and sophomore Sara Ritchie. There’s also a strong contingent of bowlers just outside the top seven who continue to push for their own opportunities.
“Our seventh and eighth bowlers could probably start on any varsity team,” Shute said. “It’s always nice to have depth, especially since this year we’re going to lose five seniors, and next year is going to look a lot different.”
While it may look different, the goal for the Hornets is that it will look familiar for the program, in that they’ll be pursuing a repeat Finals championship.
“Winning a state title is just a feeling like no other,” Timm said. “The girls I looked up to when I was younger started a legacy, and I’d really like to leave another legacy.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) From left to right, now-seniors Allison Eible, Allison Robbins, Emilea Sturk and Megan Timm led Kearsley as well during last season’s Regional. (Middle) Eible begins a frame during competition. (Photos courtesy of the Flint Kearsley girls bowling program.)