Breanna Elkin wins state bowling title.
Mercy Academy senior Breanna Elkin has bowled her way to victory.
Breanna won the state bowling championships on Feb. 9 at Collin’s Eastbound Lanes in Lexington.
“The state tourney was pretty incredible,” said head coach Chris Pifine. “Breanna had as dominating a series as I’ve ever seen. She started with a 266, but then dipped to a 190, but she shook it off and realized that her first game gave her a cushion and then shot 237 to lead the top eight with 693.
“She then shot 212 and 220 to hold the top seed going into the stepladder finals. She stayed calm and relaxed while she waited for the championship match. She bowled Boone County’s Kara Strong, a tremendous bowler in her own right, and beat her 227-173.”
Coach Pifine says Breanna can be very hard on herself, but she didn’t let the pressure of the tournament get to her and stayed calm and relaxed while waiting for the championship match.
Breanna is the first from Mercy Academy, first from any private girls school in Kentucky and first girl from Louisville to win the state title since the Kentucky High School Athletic Association began sponsoring the sport in 2013.
The team practices twice a week and usually has a match or tournament on the weekend. Breanna, who signed up for the team as a sophomore, bowls just about every day.
“Once she started doing it, she fell in love with it and is very competitive,” said Pifine. “The difference between where she started two years ago and where she is now is remarkable.”
And, the rest of the team can be proud of a successful season as well.
“We had 18 girls on the roster to finish the year, which is pretty impressive since some schools are lucky to get enough for a legal team lineup,” said Pifine. (A team needs to be comprised of five members).
“We had four seniors; three made Region 3 all-region team. During our regional tournament on Jan. 24 at Ken Bowl, we were down two games to none in a best of five series to PRP, who hadn’t lost a match all year. We won the next three games to win the series, and then beat Bullitt East three games to one to win back to back Region 3 championships.”
Breanna has signed to bowl for Union College next year.
Read Stuart Ungar’s Youth Sports blog at http://blogs.courier-journal.com/youthsports. Email Stuart at stuartungar@me.com.