Penn Manor's girls team qualified for the state bowling tournament for the second straight year at Saturday's, March 4, Eastern Regional Bowling Championships held at Leisure Lanes.

In addition to the team, Eva Brubaker will represent the Comets as an individual after placing 5th, in a field of 112, in the individual regional competition.

"Eva is the first girls we've had qualify for states since 2014," lauded head coach Chris Vital. "That's hard to do."

The girls' competition was held Friday, March 3, at Dutch Lanes. Brubaker got off to a slow start, rolling a 147 in her first game, but rallied after that, She threw four games over 200, including a series high 237 in game five, leaving her with a 1013 total good for fifth place. The top 12 qualified for states.

"After the first game switched balls and got going after that," said Vital. "She needed a 190 in the fifth game to make it and she shot a 237. I was ecstatic."

In the opening round quad-match, Brubaker rolled a 155 and did not advance to the quarterfinals.

Also in the individual competition, Corinne Smith finished 22nd in the qualifying rounds. "She rolled a 131 in her first game but recovered after that and held her own," said Vital. "Her 910 total was just 57 pins shot of the cut."

Kayla Wasche (47th), Lacey Slaymaker (55th), Hope Leaman (74th) and Abigail Nesmith (97th) also competed.

CD East's Rayana Gonzalez was the qualifying round leader with a 1101 five-game total.

Representing the boys' team was Josh Stock who finished 68th overall with a 939 series. A 1081 or better made the qualifying top 12 cut. Pottsgrove's David Swavely, with 1197, topped the qualifying rounds.

The team portion of the competition got underway on Saturday at Leisure Lanes where the girls, after three standard games and two baker sets, finished in second place with a 3833 total. Shikellamy was out in front with 4339 and Gov. Mifflin was over 300 pins behind with 3521.

"We were in fourth place after our first game (861)," noted Vital. "We bowled a 905 in the second game and Shikellamy was the only team to beat us in that round. We did outscore them in the baker sets," he added. "It was pretty much a two-horse race, no doubt about it."

Brubaker led the 3-game portion with a 610. Smith (571) and Slaymaker (556) were close behind. Wasche added a 483 with Nesmith adding a 291 2-game total and Leaman rounding things out with a 138.

The Comets earned a bye in the quarterfinals and faced Gov. Mifflin in the semis. They lost the first game 176-166 but charged back to take control, winning 222-167 and 197-151.

"We started the second game with five straight strikes," recalled Vital. "That got us fired up."

The Comets dropped game one 181-136 but pulled off a 215-198 second game win before bowing out with a 247-150 result and settling for second place.

"After the first three frames in the finals we were two pins apart," said Vital. "But Shikellamy threw seven straight strikes after that, and we struggled.

"In the second game we were actually behind before Corinne, Lacey in the ninth, and then Eva got strikes to even things up," he added. "Even though we lost the final game, we were right there with them. They beat us by 600 pins in the qualifying round, but we hung in there. The girls have been very consistent."

The Pennsylvania State High School Bowling Championships will be held March 17-18 at Eastway Lanes in Erie. The top 24 girls in the state bowl on Friday and the top 12 teams face off on Saturday.

SWIMMING

Three Comet swimmers represented Penn Manor at the District Three Swimming Championships held at Cumberland Valley High School on Friday and Saturday, March 3-4. Kenzie Wolpert finished 28th in the 200 IM while Grace Bresch, in the 50 free, and Kari Anderson, in the 100 breaststroke, both finished in 30th place.

"This was the first district meet for both Kenzie and Kari," said head coach Eric Urban. "They both dropped time in their events, posting lifetime bests. Grace did not get her best time, but she did improve her seeding by two spots."

ALL-STARS

Penn Manor's Ethan Benne and Dhamir Wesley were recently recognized as L-L League Section One all-stars. Benne was one of two unanimous choice first team selections while Wesley received honorable mention recognition.