Evergreen took care of the 3A team title to earn another trip to state, where it has won four straight team titles between from 2017-2020.
No state championship event was held in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Evergreen tallied 3,531 pins and Prairie, also state bound, had 3,362 pins to take second.
Kelso’s Emily Strehle earned the 3A individual crown with 605 pins in a tight battle with Evergreen’s Kierra Wilcox (595) and Soreya Novotny (581). Evergreen’s Kailee Wilcox (542) and Prairie’s Lilly Bash (533) rounded out the top five.
“It’s definitely energizing and it gets my adrenaline going,” said Strehle, a junior. “It makes me really happy knowing that among a bunch of individuals I can bowl the best and make it to state.”
Strehle and the Hilanders battled with Prairie throughout the seven baker games, following the three morning games in which the Falcons held a slim 2298-2270 advantage. Prairie led by 35 pins following the sixth baker and ended up outscoring Kelso 146-134 in the final game.
“The main thing that killed us was spares,” Strehle said, “but I’m overly proud of how we all bowled and I’m so happy that I got to spend one of my last years of high school with them. They’re amazing. They lift up the energy, they bring all the good vibes.”
Also qualifying for state as individuals were Battle Ground’s Grace Beagle, Union’s Evelynn Chen and Cassie Templer of Camas in 4A; Mountain View’s Maya Peterson, Kelso’s Lydda Aguilar and Heritage’s Mia Caggianese in 3A.
The WIAA modified the state bowling format this season in response to the pandemic. Each classification will completed in one day at Narrows Plaza Bowl: 3A on Feb. 3, 2A/1A on Feb. 4 and 4A on Feb. 5.
4A DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
At Husted’s Hazel Dell Lanes
3A DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
At Husted’s Hazel Dell Lanes
Team scores — 1, Evergreen 3531; 2, Prairie 3362; 3, Kelso 3315; 4, Mountain View 2462; 5, Heritage 2385. (Evergreen, Prairie advance to state.)
Top individuals — 1, Emily Strehle, Kelso (210-226-169) 605; 2, Kierra Wilcox, Evergreen (172-214-209) 595; 3, Soreya Novotny, Evergreen (193-201-187) 581; 4, Kailee Wilcox, Evergreen (206-141-195) 542; 5, Lilly Bash, Prairie (197-174-162) 533; 6, Karley Wold-Hayes, Prairie (142-181-183) 506; 7, Maya Peterson, Mountain View (186-174-127) 487; 8, Carley Postma, Prairie (181-128-151) 460; 9, Lydda Aguilar, Kelso (156-135-166) 457; 10, Mia Caggianese, Heritage (137-140-167) 444.
Team results
(*-individual state qualifiers)
EVERGREEN — Kierra Wilcox 595, Soreya Novonty 581, Kailee Wilcox 542, Alexis Clarke (101-112-154) 367, Zoey Mikkelsen (95-117-118) 330. Baker total 1116.
PRAIRIE — Lilly Bash 533, Karley Wold-Hayes 506, Carley Postma 460, Katie Postma (150-123-129) 402, Kasumi Hori (127-129-141) 397. Baker total 1064.
KELSO — Emily Strehle* 605, Lydda Aguilar* 457, Lindsay Walker (114-142-173) 429, Kassey Wray (136-133-149) 418, Kai Patton (118-114-129) 361. Baker total 1045.
MOUNTAIN VIEW — Maya Peterson* 487, Khalia Holmes (92-133-113) 338, Mya Nguyen (94-107-83) 284, Thu Pham (137-95) 232, Ashlyn Olsen (99-103) 202, Aliyah Landers (106-79) 185. Baker total 734.
HERITAGE — Mia Caggianese* 444, Evelyn Ables (121-147-175) 443, Emily Langevin (87-128) 215, Katrin Katt (100-69) 169, Alexis Fisher (76-87) 163, Katelyn House (80-77) 157, Allison Miller 62. Baker total 732.