HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: Xavier bowlers showing improvement

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By Ryan Milke, Xavier senior

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Saints boys' and girls' bowling teams are off to their best starts in the school history.

The boys' team has a record of 5-4, a big  improvement over last year's  0-11 season. The girls' are f 7-2. Both  teams are coached by Russ Camacho.

The boys' team is made up of seniors Logan Buschette and Jason Beer, juniors Kirby Guge and Kyle Elliot, sophomore Zach Klimesh and freshman Caleb Miller. Elliot placed 24th at last year's state meet.

In a meet Feb.  3 against Waterloo East, the Saints had a tough time.  East won the match with a score of 3388-2828. Elliot had the highest pin total, bowling a 500 series.

Not only is the team improving its record, it  also setting many school records.

“It feels good when our team can break the record for number of pins in a meet. It shows that we have made some huge improvements since last year,” Buschette said.

The team holds practices two to three times a week at May City Bowl in Cedar Rapids.

“We have a lot of fun in practice, but we are also focusing to improve. Our hard work during practice is starting to pay off in the meets,” Beer said.

Xavier has set the bar high this year.

 “Our main goal is to send our whole team to state," Beer said. "We have come a long way in the last couple of years, building ourselves into a solid bowling team."

The girls' bowling team is made up of seniors Erica Fry and Tyler Weger, juniors Tara Trcka, Lisa Olberding and Abbey Konzen, and sophomore Haley Jensen.

Last year at the state meet, Trcka brought home the Class 1A individual state championship.

The girls also competed in a meet on Feb. 3 against Waterloo East, winning 2412-2332. Trcka had the highest pin total, bowling a 420 series. Olberding also added a high series bowling a 349.

The team is working hard in trying to accomplish its goal of making it to the state championship. The Saints also are hoping that they can bring home the school's first state bowling trophy.

Both teams have increased in number this year, which has given other people the opportunity to bowl in some meets. They are hoping that this depth on the team can help them to compete against the best teams in the conference.

Xavier hosts Dubuque Senior on Tuesday at May City Bowl at 3:45. Lancer Lanes is host of a distrct/regional tournament that includes Xavier and Marion on Thursday, starting at 1 p.m.