July 24, 2018
DALLAS - Over the past weekend, the Louisiana Tech women's bowling team saw six student-athletes compete in the Junior Gold Championships Female U20 Division, highlighted by Kaitlyn Eder's run to the championship match, earning her second Junior Team USA automatic berth in as many years.
Head coach Matt Nantais saw a pair of young competitors in returners Eder and Ashley Channell along with incoming freshmen, Sara Howell, Lindsay Manning, Kalia Patterson and Emily Rettig take part in the competition.
"After watching six members of our team compete this past week, I remain very excited about this upcoming season," Nantais remarked. "Our returning sophomores in Kaitlyn Eder and Ashley Channell stepped up and showed the incoming members what it takes to make the cuts and bowl at a very high level. I was proud of how they all represented themselves as ambassadors of our university. People are starting to take notice of the culture we are building here at Louisiana Tech. Kaitlyn finishing second and making Team USA for the second year in a row is something we should all be proud of. Great things are happening with LA Tech Women's Bowling."
Of the 855 competitors in the nation-wide event, all six Lady Techsters finished among the top 300, and two (Eder and Channell) mad the first round of cuts to the advancers round (top 123).
Howell (203rd - 180.81 avg.), Manning (251st - 178.19 avg.), Patterson (292nd - 176.38 avg.) and Rettig (285th - 176.63) all posted admirable efforts in the tough field, showing their poise and remaining among the top third of the supremely talented field.
Both Eder and Channell made the first round of cuts to the advancers round, as Channell posted the 52nd best average (193.81), while Eder led the pack of nearly 900 bowlers with an average of 213.44 through the first four qualifying rounds.
In the advancers rounds, Channell posted an average of 188.00, but finished shy of the cut of the top 64, ending her special run in the event.
Eder kept up her remarkable pace in the advancers round, and continued to lead the pack with a pinfall mark of 212.38, heading into the final advancers round.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Eder maintained her pace, averaging 209.27 to earn the no. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament's match play (or bracket format of competition - seeding the bowlers 1-16).
Earning the no. 1 overall seed, also meant an automatic berth on Junior Team USA for Eder - her second consecutive selection to the prestigious squad.
In match play, Eder handled her first two matchups (443-363 and 346-296, respectively) before a narrow 362-360 triumph over Abby Ragsdale earned her a top-three spot in the TV finals. Eder was unable to recover from a tough start against Julia Huren, but still earned the no. 2 overall seed in the TV finals with a rematch against Abby Ragsdale.
With a spot in the national championship match on the line, Eder once again eked out a narrow victory over Ragsdale, claiming a 209-206 triumph, and advanced to the championship match against Huren.
In the stepladder final, Eder tossed five consecutive strikes starting in frame six, nearly completing an impressive comeback effort. Huren struck on her first shot in the 10th and final frame for the championship crown.
All finals were taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network, and will be televised on August 7th at 7 p.m. CT.
Competitors in all divisions bowled 16 qualifying games over four days (four games each day) before the field was cut. Bowlers in the U20 and U15 divisions bowled an additional five games before a second cut was made, and those remaining bowled an additional five games to determine the 16 bowlers for match play.
