Miller Wins Player of the Year, Baker Bowling Teams Finish Fourth at 2024 Heart Bowling Championships
TOPEKA, Kan. – After boasting four straight conference titles on the women's side, the Baker bowling teams played host to the 2024 Heart Men's & Women's Bowling Conference Championships this past weekend in Topeka, Kan. where the Wildcats placed fourth in both the men's and women's competitions.
Prior to Sunday's finale, Kinsey Miller was named the Heart of America Women's Bowler of the Year, marking the fifth straight year that a Baker bowler has won the award, following two-time honorees Caitlyn Lucas and Megan Carpenter. Miller also earned First Team All-Conference honors.
The BU women went into bracket play as the top seed after posting an overall total score of 4,272 in Saturday's baker games. Baker earned a bye in the first round to end day one.
On Sunday, Baker lost in three straight games to Grand View, 186-160, 156-155, and 171-131. The Wildcats fell to the consolation bracket and faced Culver-Stockton in the third round. Baker won the first game 189-180 but quickly fell behind, losing the next two games, 207-191 and 157-130. The Wildcats bounced back in game four, 218-177, to force a game five, but their championship run would come to an end with C-SC taking the last game, 191-161.
The men had a solid qualifying round, entering bracket play as the No. 2 seed, just 51 pins behind the frontrunner William Penn. The men faced No. 7 seed Central Methodist in the first round of match play. Baker lost the first game 209-199, but came back in game two, winning 214-180. They could not capitalize on that win and lost the next two to put them in the consolation bracket to start the day on Sunday.
The men started the tournament's second day with a tough match against Peru State. The two teams went back and forth, but Baker came out on top, winning the five-game match. Then, they bowled against Missouri Valley in another match that went the distance, defeating MVC, 3.5-1.5, moving on to face William Penn. After a couple of long five-set matches, the men struggled in their outing against the Statesmen, losing in three straight sets, 165-116, 200-177, and 192-172, to close out their tournament with a fourth-place finish.
For the second straight year, Josh King earned Second Team All-Conference honors for BU.
Both teams will be back in action Mar. 9-10 when they travel to Fort Worth, Texas for the USBC ITC Sectionals.
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