Late night practices no problem for Lion bowlers

CEDAR RAPIDS — At a time of night when most high school athletes have long since moved on from practice, the Linn-Mar bowling teams are just getting started.

When many high school athletes crack open the books to start studying (or activate their favorite procrastination technique) the Lions hit the lanes for a couple of hours of practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While 8:30 p.m. may be an unconventional start time for practice, a pair of the Lions' top bowlers don't seem to mind hanging around the lanes until 10 p.m.

'I prefer late-night practices,' said junior Mekena Diercks. 'I think high schoolers are going to be up that late anyway.

'After school you get your time for any clubs, since they meet right after school. And time to do homework and anything else.'

The late nights have worked wonders for Linn-Mar. The girl's team is 4-2 and tied with Iowa City West for second place in the Mississippi Division of the Mississippi Valley Conference. The Lions also placed third in the annual Prairie Invitation Baker tournament, held in December.

'I think that was out biggest team accomplishment this year,' said senior Alexis Tschantz. 'We've never placed in the four years that I have been bowling here.'

Tschantz tied a Linn-Mar single-game record this season, rolling a 279 against Dubuque Senior in December. Her two-game score of 506 was just short of another school record. During that same meet, the Lions set a school record for a Baker score, with a total of 1,013.

'That was really awesome,' Tschantz said, referring to the team record.

PRAIRIE ROLLING

Perennial powerhouse Cedar Rapids Prairie continues to dominate the lanes, rolling its way to a 6-0 record. A little better team chemistry has helped the Hawks to the third best match average score in the state at 2849.7.

'I've seen our scores improve this season,' said senior Kaitlyn Early. 'We're actually talking to each other more this year, whereas last year, we just said 'good job' and that was it.'

Head coach Don Wilfong may have spurred on the added chemistry at the start of the year. Rather than settle the varsity lineup through a traditional roll-off, Wilfong picked the varsity starters.

'I picked the teams, so they didn't have to battle each other,' Wilfong said. 'This way there are no hard feelings, and they can just say, 'It's Coach's fault.''

While the Prairie girls have made it to the state tournament the last three seasons, the Prairie boys have been left at home. This year, they hope to change that. And with a 5-1 record, the boys may have the momentum they need to make a postseason push.

'Going into the season, I was pretty optimistic,' said senior Lucas Galloro. 'And our team has been amazing this season.

'We can't really match their (the Prairie girls' team) success, but we can try our best. We've been really close with them this year, so they can't exactly brag about it.'