Newton’s Humphrey punches ticket to state bowling meet

Gabbie Humphrey started off her three-game individual series with a 161 on Monday during a Class 2A state qualifying bowling meet at Cardinal Lanes.

Bowling 161 three times would have resulted in coming up short of a state berth by nine pins.

But it turned out to be the worst score of the series and Humphrey’s 202 in the second game pushed her into the top five for good and led her to a state tournament as an individual for the first time in her prep career.

“It feels really good. It was my season goal,” Humphrey said. “After the first game, I did have thoughts that I may not make it. And it would suck if I ended up ninth. I just kind of knew I had a chance still, and I needed to fix myself and make some adjustments. The 200 game really pushed me up.”

Humphrey finished with a 168 and slid up one spot to fourth in the final standings.

The top eight individuals advanced to next week’s 2A individual state tournament at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo. Humphrey will bowl at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

“The expectation coming into the season was for her to make it. I didn’t have any thoughts of not going with her,” Newton head bowling coach Christie Lester said. “I felt like this was going to be her year. And I felt even better about it after the way she bowled at conference. "

Humphrey’s series was 531, which was four pins back of third and 30 away from second.

Council Bluffs Lewis Central’s Kate Reed was the regional champion with a 617 series. She opened with a 157 but catapulted to the top of the standings after finishing with a 225 and a 235.

Cedar Rapids Washington’s Libby Kalous was the runner-up with a 561 series and Washington’s Shelby Parmer finished third with a 535. The final qualifying score was a 491.

The season ended for the rest of the Newton girls as the Cardinals placed third in the team portion of the state qualifier.

Lewis Central advanced three individuals to state and won the team title with a 2,476. They rallied from a pretty significant deficit after 10 Baker games to edge Cedar Rapids Washington, which also advanced to state with a 2,471.

Newton posted a 2,356 in third and the rest of the field included ADM (2,215), Urbandale (2,179), Fort Dodge (1,991), Ballard (1,857) and Bondurant-Farrar (1,780).

“We came in about middle of the pack so to go from fourth to third was impressive,” Lester said. “They have started to bowl better as a team lately and it’s been fun to watch.

“I’m happy with how they bowled. I’m proud of them. They weren’t too far out from second.”

Mackenna Burns was the Cardinals’ second-best finisher in the individual portion of the state qualifier. She was 13th overall with a 453 series. She was 38 pins back of a state berth after rolling single games of 128, 160 and 165.

Aeris Archer also was in the top 20 as she placed 16th with a 443 series. She had single games of 146, 134 and 163.

The rest of the Cardinals’ varsity lineup featured Marissa Burns (385), Kelly Holmes (383) and Jessamyn Neer (352).

Marissa Burns rolled individual games of 124, 140 and 121, Holmes posted games of 136, 132 and 115 and Neer had single games of 117, 105 and 130.

Those six players also made up the Cardinals’ roster for the team portion of the day. Tamika Rodenborn was the alternate who only could be used in case of injury or illness.

Unlike in past seasons, by rule, Lester is no longer able to shift the seventh bowler into the Baker games due to performance.

“They gained some confidence and establishing a top six and having consistency with that group helped them late in the season,” Lester said. “The bottom few spots have been in motion a lot. Tamika did a good job of keeping things upbeat.”

Newton’s best Baker score was the 193 they rolled in the third game. They posted a 183 in the second set of five and turned in a 184 in the final set of five.

Team’s rolled 15 Baker games total and rotated lanes after five games.

Humphrey had a moment after the first game where emotions got to her and she thought she may not make it. Lester tried to assure her she wasn’t out of it at any point during the day.

“She was losing it for a little bit, but we talked and I told her we haven’t heard the loud cheers we hear when things are going great,” Lester said. “So she wasn’t the only one not bowling the way they wanted to bowl. We just need to keep fighting because we weren’t out of it.”

Humphrey was in 12th after the 161 but moved into fifth following the 202.

Lester did not know where any individual was after each game and did not want to know where her team stood after each set of five Baker games.

Humphrey only knew where she was after her first game because she heard her mom tell someone else.

The Cardinal junior left several 10 pins throughout the day and had to navigate through a handful of splits, too.

“I tried to go a little bit heavy on the head pin so it would knock out the 10 pin, but I got a little bit too heavy, which led to the splits,” Humphrey said. “I just needed to find that perfect spot.

“I left a lot of 10 pins in the third game. But picking up those spares was big, too. I will take a 10 pin over a split any day though. I think I left five or six 10 pins that game.”