Unique Style, Rare Path Mark D3 Champs
March 2, 2013
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
JACKSON – Two hands were better than one Saturday afternoon in the championship match of the MHSAA Division 3 boys singles bowling tournament at Airport Lanes in Jackson.
Adam LaRoe of Napoleon, who uses the same unorthodox two-handed delivery as PBA touring professional Jason Belmonte, came from behind to defeat William Holmes of Ferndale University 373-368 in the two-game title match.
Meanwhile, first-year varsity bowler Laurynn Ball of Armada won the girls singles championship with a 338-322 victory over Karie VanSledright of Grand Rapids South Christian.
LaRoe, a senior who qualified ninth, is a right-hander who uses a five-step delivery as he unleashes the ball from his side with both hands.
“I’ve been throwing it that way ever since I was little,” LaRoe said. “I couldn’t pick up the ball one-handed, so I just started throwing two-handed.”
When asked if he felt that gave him any sort of advantage, LaRoe said, “Sort of. I get more pin action.”
Napoleon coach Randy Chesney said he was sort of taken aback when he first encountered LaRoe and his unorthodox style.
“I was trying to figure out how I was going to coach him,” Chesney said. “He’s been doing it since he was a little kid, and he hasn’t done anything else. So we just learned that we had to adapt to it and go from there.
“He’s been a lot more consistent this year, and we haven’t had the ups and downs.”
LaRoe stayed consistent in qualifying as none of his six games were lower than 180 or higher than 204. He remained that way throughout match play with only his 168 in the first game of the semifinals not falling between 180 and 204.
LaRoe nearly was sidelined in the quarterfinals when he edged Tyler Windahl of Ishpeming by one pin, and he entered the title match after averaging 189 for 12 games through the semifinals.
LaRoe’s opponent, Holmes, qualified 14th and got hot in match play, averaging 209 for the six games in the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals. Holmes defeated LaRoe 199-181 in the first game of the two-game title match before LaRoe came back with a 192-169 victory for a 373-368 triumph.
A turkey in the third, fourth and fifth frames of the second game got LaRoe back into the match, and open frames by Holmes in the fourth, sixth and eighth frames helped pave the way to the title for LaRoe.
When LaRoe stepped onto the approach for the 10th frame of the second game of the title match, he needed a strike or a spare to win the championship. He threw a solid strike.
“It was a relief,” LaRoe said.
While LaRoe’s two-handed delivery was much different than the rest of the bowlers in the boys division, Ball’s road to the girls finals was just as unique. A year ago, Ball was a cheerleader at Armada, and bowling wasn’t even on her radar.
“Cheerleading was fun, but I was a gymnast, so it was more of the gymnastics that I was interested in,” Ball said. “Everybody was talking about how bowling was so much fun, so I thought I’d give that a try. I had bowled in middle school; we had a Saturday night league, and it was fun.
“I didn’t know if I could do it in high school because I threw a straight ball, and I didn’t think that was good enough. So I asked (Armada coach) Dave Walkowski, ‘Can you teach me to bowl?’ And he taught me how to bowl.”
Walkowski praised Ball for being so coachable.
“She has the ability to listen and accept change,” he said. “I’d tell her to do something, and she’d do it without arguing. I’d tell her to move a little bit, and she’d do it, and then she’d say, ‘Oh my gosh, it worked.’
“It’s very incredible when they want to listen and not give you a hard time about it.”
Ball was the 15th qualifier out of 16, and in the round of 16 she faced Noelle Scheuer of Richmond. Scheuer had eliminated Ball in an earlier tournament, and Armada has a strong rivalry with Richmond.
Ball shot 204 and 199 to win her match against Scheuer, then she rolled 219 and 214 to win her quarterfinal match. In the semifinals, Ball had to rally after losing 180-153 in the first game. She defeated Samantha Kubiak of Frankenmuth 208-172 in the second match for a nine-pin victory.
Awaiting Ball in the final was VanSledright, who threw a 290 in the first game of her semifinal match and went on to sideline Loretta Hinds 469-436 in a high-scoring match. And Ball noticed.
“I was watching her bowl, and she was hitting strike after strike after strike,” Ball said of VanSledright. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ When she bowled me I couldn’t watch because I was so nervous.”
Ball defeated VanSledright 175-154 in the first game of the two-game match, but opened the door in the second game with open frames in the third, fourth and fifth frames. She finished by marking in her final five frames and, although she lost the second game 168-163, it was enough for an overall 16-pin victory.
VanSledright said she had trouble solving the championship pair.
“Coming into the last game, I was excited, but I was definitely struggling in the last game,” she said.
“Nothing was hitting. It was the toughest lanes I’ve bowled on here in this house.
“I couldn’t strike enough or pick up my spares.”
When Ball stepped on the approach for her 10th frame in the second game, all she needed was at least seven on her first ball to win. She threw a strike.
“My heart was pumping, and it felt amazing,” Ball said. “My heart just sank, and I knew right then and there.”
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Portage Central Champ Rolls to Vanderbilt, Writing Next Chapter in Alabama
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
July 14, 2022
After graduating from Portage Central High School in 2012, bowling phenom Tori Ferris – now Tori Lovell – decided she wanted to explore areas outside the Midwest.
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., was such a perfect fit that she remained in the South after graduating with a degree in human and organizational development in 2016, with her current home in Huntsville, Ala.
Although she is no longer living in Michigan, her influence on young bowlers is still strong.
“She’s one of my examples that I use today: That it doesn’t matter if it’s Division I or Division III, you can still go to (college) for bowling,” said Scott Brunner, whose pro shop is located in Continental Lanes in Portage.
“Tori was a big sister to my youngest daughter, Morgan, out on the lanes. Watching her go to a Division I school gives Morgan even more of a drive to go.”
While bowling was her life through high school and college, Lovell took a four-year break once she graduated before trying her hand at league bowling.
“(League bowling) was a great experience and I met a lot of people in the area, but, for me it’s hard to bowl just for fun,” she said. “Having a full-time job, for me, bowling is not sustainable.”
She did return to Michigan two years ago, visiting Brunner for some new equipment and a few tips.
“(In the past Brunner) gave Dad and me advice, small lessons when I was trying out new equipment,” she said.
“I saw him when I came back to town in 2020 and he watched me bowl and gave me tips. It’s nice to have people who know you help you.”
After meeting Jon Lovell when she was a senior at Vanderbilt, the couple married in 2019 and moved to Huntsville, where they have two chihuahua mixes, Gus and Ellie.
“I’m a crazy dog mom,” she laughed.
Lovell works in human resources at Invariant Corporation, a federal contracting company in Huntsville, and her husband is in the Air National Guard.
Lovell is still the same outgoing person she was when she was collecting bowling trophies at Portage Central, including the MHSAA Division 1 Finals singles championship as a junior.
She continued making her mark on the bowling lanes at Vanderbilt, which she chose for several reasons.
“Growing up I loved country music, so the idea of living in Nashville was so exciting,” Lovell said.
“Once I got to visit Vanderbilt and saw how beautiful the campus was and started learning about the program from the coaches, it felt like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
The bonus was going there on a bowling scholarship.
“To be at one of the most prestigious universities in the country and then to be there for bowling, I had a bit of imposter syndrome, like am I good enough for this?” Lovell said.
She was more than good enough.
As a freshman, she and her Commodores teammates made it to the NCAA Division I Finals, eventually losing to Nebraska in the championship match.
“We had an amazing national showing,” Lovell said. “With bowling, it’s like one frame can change the momentum. It was an amazing experience.
“I was one of two freshmen who were playing out of the five. It was a really humbling experience.”
Vanderbilt also placed among the top eight at the NCAA Finals her next three years, with Lovell making her television debut at the Nationals.
“Nothing can compare to it,” Lovell said of bowling on TV. “Our assistant, Josie Earnest Barnes, was a freshman on the team when they won a national title (in 2007).
“She was trying to prepare us as much as she could, giving us tips: ‘All you can do is breathe and throw the ball, give it a chance.’ It was intimidating.”
Looking back at her high school and college bowling careers, Lovell said: “I’m grateful for the opportunities that bowling has given me, even though I’m not bowling right now.”
Lovell credits her Portage Central coaching staff with helping her achieve success.
“Karen Fawley (who died in 2017), assistant Doug Ferris (her dad) and boys coach Bill Huey were really advocates for us,” she said. “They made sure we had every opportunity we needed to be successful, even from a young age.
“We had a really good group of girls while I was there. Not everyone was planning to go to college for bowling, but they wanted to compete and be the best they could for high school bowling. Some really wanted to have a good time and bowl, so it was a really good mix, which made us successful for several years.”
A similar event occurred during both high school and college: an injury which did not interfere with her successes.
“I hurt my back the year I won the (MHSAA) state tournament, and Karen (Fawley) actually had a back brace in the car,” Lovell laughed.
Her freshman year at Vanderbilt, Lovell had a finger injury while competing in the NCAA Tournament.
“I had torn a tendon in my ring finger, and it was wrapped up in a lidocaine patch,” she said. “My coach would help me change it every hour.
“I kept competing, and I was having one of the best tournaments.”
Lovell had some extra support at Vanderbilt.
“I don’t know if people I grew up with know, but when I went to Vanderbilt, both my parents moved to Nashville,” Lovell said. “My parents (Andrea Struijk and Doug Ferris) divorced when I was real young, then remarried and had kids and they all moved to Nashville.
“That also made the decision a lot easier because I knew I wasn’t going to be totally alone. I was living on campus, but my parents were 20 minutes away instead of 10 hours away.”
Now that her competitive years are over, at least for a while, Lovell offers the following advice to high school bowlers:
“I would say, listen to your coaches,” she said. “Enjoy the time you have, because it does not last long. Even though you think the next four years are going to take forever, it flies by.
“High school bowling is competitive, but not as hard core as collegiate bowling. You can still enjoy it and have that camaraderie. It’s your last chance to be a kid and compete.”
2021-22 Made in Michigan
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PHOTOS (Top) Tori (Ferris) Lovell, as a high school senior (left) and currently with her dogs Gus and Ellie. (Middle) Lovell was an immediate standout bowling for Vanderbilt. (Below) Lovell and husband Jon were married in 2019. (Photos courtesy of Tori Lovell; college bowling photo also courtesy of the Vanderbilt athletic department.) VIDEO Vanderbilt and Nebraska face off for the 2013 NCAA Division I title.