LAWRENCE, Kan. and TOPEKA, Kan. – Both Avila teams finished in the middle third of their respective fields in the 2022 Jayhawk Challenge over the weekend, where the Avila men started strong and ultimately finished in 12th and the Eagle women were consistent throughout and finished in 8th.
Like in previous iterations, the Jayhawk Challenge was a split event, with all the men competing at Gage Bowl in Topeka and the women at Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence. This event was different from any the Eagles have competed in to this point in 2022: the competition started with 16 Baker games on Saturday followed by five total team games split between Saturday and Sunday. The playoff fields differed by the site as well: the top eight men’s teams qualified for bracket play, while the women only accepted the top four, meaning the Avila women were left without a chance to compete in the knockout rounds.
The Avila men were right in the thick of playoff contention the first day of the event, slotting in at 9th overall in the field of 18 teams. The team slipped up slightly however on Sunday, ultimately dropping to 12th overall after the team games and out of bracket contention. Evan Serrage led the varsity team with an average of 182.4 over the five team games, a Top 40 mark in the field, while Brody Stanback and Nick Hays also finished in the Top 50.
The Eagles were also able to enter a JV squad into the field, a testament to the work that head coach Paul Wolf and company have done to expand Avila’s roster ahead of their second season of competition. Among that group, Matthew Eddy turned in the best average at 191.4, tied for the 25th-best mark in the entire field, including varsity. The JV Eagles finished in 11th in their own field of 17 (counting Kansas Wesleyan which was not officially credited with any pins.
Meanwhile over in Lawrence the Avila women put together another solid showing on the heels of their third place finish in St. Charles the previous weekend. Avila was in 8th after the first day of action and stayed right there after the final three team games on Sunday, missing out on the four-team knockout bracket.
Joanne Alibayan led the team with an average of 179.8, a Top 20 mark among all bowlers, while Devyn Coleman and Claire Busch also finished in the Top 30. Newman took home the varsity title on the men’s side while Ottawa claimed the championship on the women’s side.
After three straight weekends on, Avila bowling will have this weekend off from…
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