By Travis Ostby

Balls rolling down bowling lanes and ivory-colored pins falling sets the scene for the Madison bowling team as they clutched a spot for regionals, and a chance to compete in state.

The amount of practice that goes into each game  tremendous. After countless hours spent at Brunswick to prepare themselves, the team landed their bowling shoes at the doorstep of regionals in New Braunfels.

Before each game, practice takes up most of their time with one session basically everyday. Afterwards, the team holds a short meeting to discuss expectations from each player and the coaches provide words of advice and words of encouragement to the buoyant bowlers.

The first games of the season pressured the team as they lacked a fifth girl for the girl’s division. Without this fifth person, they automatically received a zero as one score. This made it that much more difficult to beat their opponent, but with skill, they outscored on numerous occasions.

Each game of skill came down to every strike, spare, and point scored. By the game’s end, players attained scores of about 200, with the occasional 300 from veteran bowlers. Such a feat seems incredible, especially with those scores coming from high schoolers.

Their games started out fairly moderate with a few early wins and a few losses. But with perseverance and expertise, their season came down to a five win, five loss, and one tie season. A trip to regionals began to seem very likely.

The season, unfortunately, came to an emotional end while at regionals. Bowling at their absolute best put them closer toward their goal of state, yet the victory slipped from their grasp as scores declined every round. The team ended up in seventh place, when they needed at least fourth place.

Their hard work and determination throughout the season took them to regionals, a momentous occasion for every player and coach on the team. Each season brings the team closer to achieving peak performance for the coming years.