Kansas bowling state recap: Olathe Northwest senior third in Class 6A
Olathe Northwest High School senior Mackenzie Saulnier entered last week’s Kansas Class 6A bowling state meet with a humble goal.
Saulnier, the 2013 individual state champion, set her sights on finishing as a medalist as a top-20 performer. But even she surprised herself when she bowled a 665 series and wound up in third place. It was her fourth consecutive year as a state medalist.
“Being able to get third in the state just amazes me,” Saulnier said. “My whole goal was to medal all four years. To do that and finishing with a third-place finish makes me extremely happy.”
Saulnier credited her ability to stay calm and in the moment for the consistency of her games of 223, 224 and 218.
“One thing I really focused on was keeping everything with my mechanics consistent,” Saulnier said. “I would go through the same steps each time. I would just tell myself to think ... breathe, look at mark, breathe, count to four, throw and hit mark, follow through. Just being able to control that helped everything.”
Saulnier’s performance helped her finish the season with the second-highest average score in the state of Kansas — 217 pins. She also had the top series with a 763 earlier this season.
Olathe East’s Allie Brachtenbach, who placed 10th at state with a 613 series, led a group of five remaining 913-area placers in Class 6A. Olathe South’s Morgan Sheehan (12th, 606), Shawnee Mission North’s Nicole Edwards (16th, 588), Olathe South’s Gabrielle Russell (19th, 576) and Olathe North’s Kristina Robinson (20th, 573) were the other four bowlers.
Olathe South placed fourth as a team with 2,136 pins for the top 913-area score. Olathe North followed in fifth place (2,133) and SM Northwest was ninth (2,023).
In the Class 6A boys state meet, Olathe East’s Michael Crow was the top finisher on the boys side with a 733 series and a fourth-place performance. Teammate Jake Butler finished seventh with a 707 series. The Olathe North twosome of Tristan Musick and Jack Gerhold placed 10th and 16th, respectively, with 700 and 661 series. Olathe North, as a team, finished fifth, Olathe East was seventh and SM East ninth.
Class 5-1A: Dierking leads way for St. James
St. James Academy’s Alanna Dierking placed sixth at the Kansas Class 5-1A girls bowling state meet. She bowled a 635 series with 171, 241 and 223 splits to raise her season average to 195 pins.
Mill Valley, which finished 12th, was the only 913-area team to qualify and the Jaguars were led by Maridee Ann Weber, with a 475 series for 42nd place.
St. James Academy’s Stephen Tepper was the top 9-3 area boys finisher at 39th place. Teammate Brian Kaufman followed in 40th place.
This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Kansas bowling state recap: Olathe Northwest senior third in Class 6A."