Feb. 11, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Despite competing on the most difficult lane pattern allowed by NCAA rules, Louisiana Tech's bowling team took home a fourth-place finish out of ten teams at the Releasers NCAA Invitational at Seminole Bowl in Tallahassee, Fla. It was the final tournament as a Lady Techster for senior Lakeya Smith.
Jackson State, ranked 12th in the country, took the overall team title with a total pinfall of 10,823. No. 14 Fayetteville State (N.C.) finished second with 10,500, host Florida A&M took third at 10,284, and the Lady Techsters were a close fourth at 10,180.
In head-to-head competition, the Lady Techsters went 10-5, which included three heartbreaking losses by a combined ten pins.
"This was a heck of a way to end the season," Lady Techster bowling coach Shawn Jackson said. "I was very excited about the way we competed in the tournament, especially considering that we had to play the most difficult shot the NCAA has.
"We lost three games by one, two and seven pins. But even at that, it was still probably the best tournament we've had since the inception of the program. I was very proud of the way our girls kept grinding away despite some difficult conditions."
Smith made the most of her final collegiate competition as she led the team with a five-game pinfall of 837, finishing just shy of earning all-tournament honors. She finishes her senior year with a total individual-match pinfall of 5,511 in 32 games for an average of 172.2. Having competed since the inception of the program in 2004-05, she leaves as the only four-year letter-winner in the Lady Techster bowling program's history.
Junior Toria Miles had Tech's high game of the tournament, bowling a 199 against North Carolina A&T.
In singles play, Tech took victories over North Carolina A&T (754-707) and South Carolina State (743-742) while dropping a heartbreaker to Norfolk State (754-752) and two other matches to Jackson State (823-752) and Florida A&M (824-687).
Tech took a measure of revenge for two of those losses in Baker Total Pins matches, downing Bethune-Cookman (655-617), Jackson State (735-728) and FAMU (705-640) while dropping two close ones to Fayetteville State (683-682) and North Carolina A&T (557-551).
It was a clean sweep for the Lady Techsters in best-of-seven Baker play as Tech took out North Carolina A&T (4-3), South Carolina State (4-1), North Carolina Central (4-0), Winston-Salem State (4-0) and Bethune-Cookman (4-2).
With four of five letter-winners returning next season, Jackson is excited about the prospects for Lady Techster bowling in 2008-09.
"We finished this season on a high note, and we will finally have our own facility next season," Jackson said. "With what we've got coming back and some of the talent we have committed for next year, we should be a top-10 team."
PLANE CRASH DISRUPTS TOURNAMENT: Around 8:40 p.m. Friday, a small private plane crashed into a major intersection near the site of the tournament, knocking out power to both the bowling alley and the nearby Florida State University campus. The pilot survived the crash of his Cessna 177, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.
"It was pretty surreal," Jackson said. "That plane crashed about 400 meters from the bowling alley. We heard a big `boom' and then all the lights went out. It's not often you see a crashed plane in the middle of the street."
FINAL STANDINGS
- Jackson State (10,823)
- Fayetteville State (10,500)
- Florida A&M (10,284)
- Louisiana Tech (10,180)
- Bethune-Cookman (9,994)
- Norfolk State (9,799)
- South Carolina State (9,282)
- North Carolina Central (8,737)
- North Carolina A&T (8,570)
- Winston-Salem State (7,910)
