Sport: State Championships for Ten Pin Bowlers 

Our Year 11 Boys Ten Pin Bowling team are the very 1st Hume Region Champions in history,after dominating opponents from Wangaratta and Shepparton on Friday 1st November.

The team (Jye Laxton, Tom Ford, Jack Lockhart and Wirra Gilson) over the course of 2 games amassed 950 points, to win the title easily from one of our own Year 9 Boys teams (Brodie Walters, James Chisholm, Brady Fischer and Kayden Vozlic) who finished 61 points back, with 889.

Both teams now progress to the State Championships on Friday 6th December in Melbourne, where they will aim to be our first State Champion team in any sport, in almost 2 decades. We believe that was 2005, 19 years ago, when we had 5 teams win State - Year 7 Boys Football, Intermediate Boys Baseball, and 3 Squash teams (Senior Boys, Year 7 Boys, Year 7 Girls.

In the very first year School Sport Victoria has ever ran a Ten Pin Bowling competition, we had a staggering 9 teams entered, totalling 36 players across all year levels.

Individually, Jye Laxton was by far the top gun of our 36 bowlers. He scored 160 in his 1st game, then 167 in his second, totalling 327 - the only bowler to hit the 300 mark. His teammate Tom Ford was next best (133 + 135 = 268). The two Year 11 all-round guns carried their team to the victory.

The 3rd best individual was Brodie Walters (123 + 112 = 235), whose Runner-Up team of Year 9 Boys were the most constistent, boasting 3 of the Top 8 players, with all four going Top 10. James Chisholm (84 + 140 = 224) was ranked 7th, Brady Fischer (120 + 99 = 219) was 8th, and Kayden Vozlic (106 + 105 = 211) 10th.

There were many players outside the Top 2 teams with Top Notch scores. Year 10 Emilio Miliankos-King was 4th (104 + 128 = 232), but his team's total of 776 (our 3rd best team) was 103 points shy of the Year 9 Boys, and 169 short of the Year 11.

Generally it was the older, stronger bowlers that dominated, however some bucked that trend, including Year 7 Tea Valle who was our 5th best overall. The talented all-round Sportsman and Academic scored 228 (95 + 133). Year 8 Hugh Spring was another (110 + 104 = 214) to be 9th overall, while Year 9 Ned James (128 + 98 = 226) was 6th.

Of the girls, Year 8 Inanay Gilson was the best. She was 18th overall, the only girl to crack the Top 20, and the only girl to break 100 in a game. She scored 168 (63 + 105), while her Merriwa mates and fellow Year 8s Kaity Ford (68 + 88 = 156) and Ruby Burns (59 + 86 = 145) were the 2nd and 3rd best.

Thanks to all bowlers for your participation, and thank you to Dale Unwin for coaching on the day.

To the 8 boys hitting the Hume Highway at 7:00am next Friday en-route to Wyncity Keon Park in Thomastown for the State Finals, good luck bringing us home some silverware.

Jud Mullins

Sport Co-ordinator