Women’s Bowling wins Storm Baker Challenge
Women’s bowling head coach Dale Lehman has hosted the Storm Baker Challenge for 17 consecutive years and in 2024 on Sunday, January 21, both the women’s varsity and JV team took first-place.
Addison, IL – The Calumet College women's bowling team returned to Addison for the Storm Baker Challenge after taking 12th the weekend before at the Kegel/ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic.
During Day 1, the Crimson Wave battled to maintain a top three position against Judson University and Lewis University. CCSJ had dropped to as low as fifth throughout the day but managed to finish Saturday in 2nd place through six sets with an overall total of 4161 leading into Sunday's sets.
29 pins out of first to start Day 2, Calumet College managed to finish the qualifying rounds in 1st with 7062, surpassing Judson on the final game.
As the No. 1 seed in the varsity bracket, the Wave faced No. 4-seeded Carthage College in round one. Each round is a best of five series and to open the varsity women's bracket, CCSJ swept Carthage 3-0 to move on and play No. 2-seeded Judson in the championship round.
After splitting the first two games, the Crimson Wave won two in a row, including putting up a score of 243 in the final game, to claim the first-place award.
Calumet College's JV team also had a successful outing as well, finishing Saturday in 1st with a total of 3734. On Sunday, the team kept pace throughout the remainder of the qualifying rounds to finish 1st with a score of 6231.
Advancing to the JV championship round against Judson, CCSJ lost the first game before running off three straight games to claim the JV title.
Head coach Dale Lehman said specific bowlers are starting to hit their stride at the right time of the year, as the Storm Baker Challenge is a great tournament to compete in before the postseason.
"When you go to the postseason, it's 100 percent baker play so the Baker events are something to always look forward to," Lehman said. "On Saturday, Morgan Schoon and Savanah Rodriguez were excellent and on Sunday, Samantha Smolen stepped up along with Paige Plautz."
Lehman continued, "Overall our entire team this year plays well in match play, and we've been fortunate to win three so far. We hope to keep excelling and elevating."
Up Next
The Crimson Wave have a short break until they return to action on February 10 in Indianapolis, IN at the Hoosier Classic.