By a razor thin margin, women's bowling punched its ticket to the Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) with a fourth-place finish while the men fell short of advancing by taking sixth at Sectionals March 8-9 in Fort Worth, Texas. With 64 games of baker bowling over the weekend, it came down to the final few frames as the Lady Lions claimed the final of four spots by just five pins over fifth place McKendree University.

They entered the Fort Worth Sectional as one of the top seeds, but started the event slowly on Saturday morning, posting what would prove to be their lowest four-game set. That left Lindenwood looking up at multiple teams in the standings in a field of 18. The Lady Lions started to find their footing as the morning continued with sets of 739, 754, and 746. With a 16-game block of 2907 (181.69 average) that only included two games over 200, Lindenwood had climbed to sixth place, only 84 pins out of the top four cut line but it was a crowded field at the top with only 144 pins separating first from ninth.

After the lunch break, the Lady Lions continued a steady pace with some explosive moments. Their high game of the day, a 235, came in the first set of the afternoon, but only resulted in a total of 735. Somewhat out of nowhere, Lindenwood then bowled games of 216, 193, and 234 in succession on the way to a set of 811. Sets of 724 and 799 rounded out competition on Saturday for a block of 3069 (191.81 average), the fourth highest block of the afternoon. With a day one total of 5976 (186.25 average), the Lady Lions sat in fifth place, only 38 pins behind McKendree in fourth, but only seven ahead of Newman in sixth and 34 ahead of the Alabama – Birmingham in seventh.

With an early morning start on Sunday made earlier by the start of Daylight Savings Time, Lindenwood came with a new strategy, hoping to score better on the fresh oil pattern. It did work, but only slightly as the Lady Lions shot another sub-700 set, but it was better than the day before. The big difference came in the second set as they put games of 192, 247, 192, and 195 together for a set of 826, their highest of the weekend. The next two pairs played tough and Lindenwood was forced to grind through sets of 721 and 716, but a block of 2948 (184.25 average) was third highest among the upper half of the field. With a grand total of 8924 (185.92 average), the Lady Lions had climbed to fourth, only 84 pins behind Newman in third, but only 20 pins ahead of the Bearcats in fifth.

Lindenwood continued to grind, posting 726 in the first set of the final block. In a key stretch, the Lady Lions started the next set by tying their high of 247 for the weekend on the way to a 775 set. Four more solid games resulted in 772 for the 15^th set. With 11,197 overall, Lindenwood still sat in fourth place with just the final position round set of four games to go, but it was a precarious position at best. McKendree was just 12 pins behind in fifth and Oklahoma Christian was only 13 behind in sixth.

After opening with a 162, the Lady Lions fell behind OCU by a few pins, but the next two games were pivotal. A clean 216 game followed by a score of 191 gave them some breathing room, a 52-pin advantage over the Bearcats, and they would need every bit of it for the final 10 frames of the event. Lindenwood posted strikes in three of the first six frames but opened in the others. Frame seven was a key spare and as the Lady Lions began the eighth frame, McKendree was finishing the final two frames of game 64 with a potential maximum of 194, meaning that Lindenwood would need at least two marks down the stretch. The Bearcats struck on the first shot of their 10^th but did not on the next and finished with 181. After another spare in the eighth, the Lady Lions just needed pin count in each of the final two frames. A chopped spare in the ninth put Lindenwood within four pins of advancement. A 6-7 split was left in the 10^th but it was enough to seal fourth place.

With a block total of 2976 (186 average), the Lady Lions finished Sectionals with a grand total of 11,900 (185.94 average), just five pins ahead of McKendree and 93 pins behind the University of Central Missouri in third. Sacred Heart University won the Fort Worth event, followed by Newman in second place.

In addition to the top four teams from the Fort Worth Sectional, 12 other women's teams advanced to the ITC from three other event locations. North Carolina A & T, the University of Pikeville, Mount St. Mary's University, and Saint Xavier University came out of Allen Park, Michigan; Jacksonville State, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) – Savannah, Maryville University, and Stephen F. Austin State University advanced from Smyrna, Tennessee; and Mount Mercy University, Louisiana Tech, Judson University, and Wisconsin – Whitewater came out of Addison, Illinois.

The Lady Lions were represented by Haylie Frick, Samantha Smith, Haylie Bozych, Liz Rittenour, Carissa Merkle, Maddie Millsaps, Julia Smith, and Izzy Fletcher.

Men's Bowling Falls Short
In a Fort Worth men's field of 19 teams, the Lions had a dreadful start with sets of 703 and 705. That left Lindenwood at the bottom of the standings and hundreds of pins from first place right out of the gate. The Lions recovered for the final two sets of the Saturday morning block with seven games in the 200's, finishing with 824 and 877. With a total of 3109 (194.31 average), they had climbed to 12^th place and were only 132 pins from the top four cut line.

Lindenwood continued to ride the new-found momentum as the afternoon block began, starting with a set of 817. The Lions posted their best set of the weekend next with games of 199, 215, 201, and a weekend high of 269 for a total of 884, but the next set was over 100 pins lower, despite including a game of 246. After rounding out the day with 821, they finished with a block total of 3295 (205.94 average). With a grand total of 6404 (200.13 average), Lindenwood was solidly in contention to advance, sitting in sixth place, only 32 pins behind McKendree in fourth place and only 101 pins behind Cal State – Fresno in third.

As the Sunday morning round began, the Lions were much better than the day before as they started with sets of 774 and 777, but the scoring pace at the top of the standings was much higher. After finishing the block with sets of 760 and 828, Lindenwood had a total of 3139 (196.19 average) which was higher than the morning block from the day before and moved the Lions up to fifth place, but the teams right above had all totaled 200 to 300 pins more, meaning the gap to the fourth place cut line had opened up to 242 pins.

Needing a Sunday afternoon surge, Lindenwood started the final block with a set of 842, giving the Lions some hope of making a big comeback, but it was short-lived as they were plagued with some inconsistency. They would bowl several solid games only to undo it with a rough one. The second afternoon set had two games in the 200's but only netted a total of 745. The third set included a high of 245 but resulted in a total of 800. With a grand total of 11,930, Lindenwood was almost 200 pins from fourth heading into the final position round set. While not impossible, it was an imposing deficit to overcome with just four games remaining. After games of 198 and 174, the writing was on the wall. With a final set of 737, the Lions posted a block of 3124 (195.25 average) and a grand total of 12,667 (197.92 average) to finish in sixth place, 251 pins behind Newman University in fourth. Oklahoma Christian won the Fort Worth Sectional by just 10 pins over second place Wichita State and McKendree took third. It was only the second time since 2004 that the Lindenwood men's squad failed to advance to the ITC.

In addition to the top four teams in Texas, 12 other men's teams advanced to the ITC. Muskingum University, Pikeville, Marian University (Ind.), and Lawrence Tech qualified from Allen Park, Michigan; Webber International, SCAD – Savannah, Milligan University, and Trine University qualified from Smyrna, Tennessee; and St. Ambrose University, Calumet College of St. Joseph, Mount Mercy, and Wisconsin – Whitewater qualified from Addison, Illinois.

Juan Pablo Aguirre, Justin Kennedy, Mike Anderson, Emmanuel McPherson, Luke Batchelor, Eli Northcutt, Kaden Lansford, and Christian Petersen represented the Lions.

NCBCA Scholar Athletes Recognized
Prior to the start of the final block of Sectionals on Sunday afternoon, the National College Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) recognized its list of Scholar Athletes, those with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 at the start of the spring semester. There were 16 different Lindenwood bowlers that received the honor and received a certificate of recognition including: (Women) Sadie Bettendorf, Hailey Bozych, Izzy Fletcher, Haylie Frick, Alyssa Hessler, Carissa Merkle, Julia Smith, Samantha Smith, (Men) AJ Evrley, Kaden Lansford, Zach Ludwig, Connor McCague, Eli Northcutt, Hunter Pirtle, Max Sauer, and James Zugmaier.