Kamiakin’s Bennett does it again, winning back-to-back WA state bowling title
Hayden Bennett never pays attention to what her score is when she’s bowling.
“I bowl in a whole bunch of tournaments,” said the Kamiakin High School senior. “When I bowl, I just don’t keep track of my score.”
Good thing the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’ officials kept track for her, as Bennett won the 4A individual tournament on Saturday at Bowlero in Tukwila.
It was her second consecutive state championship, as she also won last year as a junior.
Bennett opened the tournament with a 236 in her first of six individual games to take the lead, and she never looked back — although it took Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin to tell her she had won.
“She bowls in so many tournaments, that she doesn’t pay attention to where she’s at,” said Biglin. “We tried not to talk about (her repeating a state title), but you knew she was going there to try to win it.
“I told her winning a state title is special,” Biglin continued. “But it’s really special if you win two of them. She said ‘Really?’”
Her six-game total of 1,162 pins gave her a 23-pin lead over runnerup Sienna Stoner of Curtis.
Bennett said she’s entertaining a few offers to bowl next year in college.
Other 4A standouts included Hanford’s Anna Beitz, who finished 11th with 1,000 pins; Kamiakin’s Alyssa Martinez was 12th at 996; Richland’s Ali Lemieux was 15th at 972; and Kamiakin’s Lilliana Martinez placed 20th at 958.
As a team, Kamiakin placed third with 7,111 pins.
And that, to Bennett, was more important to her than winning an individual title.
“It was so much fun,” she said. “We bowled together. We stayed in a hotel. We have memories from the entire season. And I got to bowl with my little sister.”
Biglin liked what he saw with this team.
“The girls 100 percent bowled really well on Day 1,” said Biglin. “They gave it a shot at competing. We just started out slow on the first three Baker games.”
Curtis won the team title with 7,264 pins.
▪ In the 3A tournament, Kennewick placed second as a team, scoring 7,030 pins.
Evergreen of Vancouver won the team title with 7,182.
“It’s not too bad,” said Kennewick coach Tom Richardson. “It was super close. We got within 70 at one point. I actually think we had a good chance of winning the (team) title. We have such a balanced team.”
Evergreen’s Kierra Wilcox was the individual state champion with a score of 1,140 pins.
Kennewick’s Kourtnie Foss placed fifth with 1,077 pins, including a final-game 202.
Other Mid-Columbia bowlers who finished well include Hermiston’s Lily Fields, who placed ninth at 1,021; Southridge’s Aubrey Johnston, who took 13th with 969 pins; Kennewick’s Calista Tippett finished 16th with 964; and Lions teammate Samantha McMaster finished tied for 18th with 949 pins.
The Lions have gone to state as a team every year but one that Richardson has been head coach or assistant at Kennewick. He said that the Tri-Cities has a deep bowl of talented girls who can bowl.
“We have two good solid junior programs in the Tri-Cities now,” he said, referring to Kennewick’s Spare Time Lanes and Richland’s Atomic Bowl.
College update
Hannah Chang (Richland) of Seattle Pacific placed 11th in the women’s long jump at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 14.
Chang leaped 16 feet, 7.75 inches.
▪ Connell High grad Tristen Garland is off to a hot start for the College of Idaho baseball team, which opened its season recently by going 3-1 in an Arizona tournament.
In those games, Garland (who spent the last two seasons at Big Bend Community College) went 8-for-17 at the plate with four doubles, scored 10 runs and drove in five more.
▪ Eastern Washington University’s Alax Grimes (Southridge) won the men’s weight throw event at the Lauren McCluskey Invitational indoor track meet at the University of Idaho on Jan. 20-21.
Grimes won with a throw of 18.31 meters.
Caden Hottman (Hermiston), a WSU freshman but competing unattached, finished third in the event with a toss of 16.49 meters.
EWU’s Hally Ruff (Walla Walla) placed second in the women’s pole vault with a height of 3.76 meters.
Three other Mid-Columbia athletes — Madi Carr (Richland), Johan Correa (Kennewick) and Madelyn Knight (Walla Walla) — all did well in two events each.
Carr, competing for EWU, placed fifth in the women’s 800 meters (2:16.68) and was seventh out of 29 runners in the women’s 1-mile run, with a time of 5:07.49.
Correa, who attended Spokane Community College but is now at Central Washington University, placed fourth in the men’s 600 meters at 1:20.14. He also finished eighth out of 32 runners in the men’s 1-mile run at 4:16.95.
Knight, a senior at EWU, placed fourth in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.75 seconds. She also finished eighth out of 31 runners in the women’s 200 meters in 26.00 seconds.
▪ Carroll College in Montana snared a couple of Mid-Columbia athletes last Wednesday for football.
Sunnyside’s Brent Maldonado signed his letter of intent to play for the Saints, as did Walla Walla offensive lineman Jon Smith.
Maldonado was a top-level wide receiver as a junior for the Grizzlies. But this past season, as a senior, Sunnyside needed him to step into the quarterback position and he excelled as one of the Big Nine Conference’s best.
However, Carroll has signed Maldonado as a defensive back.
▪ Grayson Nelson (CBC) scored 6 points, grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds, and had a steal to help lead the Montana Western men’s basketball team over Rocky Mountain 76-60 in a Frontier League Conference game on Jan. 12.
▪ Jaxson Nichols (Kamiakin), competing unattached, finished second in the men’s high jump on Jan. 14 at the Spokane Indoor Challenge track meet at The Podium in Spokane. Nichols, who attends Spokane Community College, cleared 6 feet, 8.75 inches.
Other outstanding performances by Mid-Columbia athletes included EWU women’s pole vaulter Hally Ruff (Walla Walla), who placed third in that event with a vault of 12 feet, 4.50 inches; EWU’s Madi Carr (Richland) finishing fourth in women’s 1-mile with a time of 5:09.30; EWU’s Brayden Freitag (Kamiakin) placing fourth in the men’s pole vault with a height of 15-5.75; and EWU’s Alax Grimes (Southridge) taking fourth in the men’s weight throw with a distance of 57 feet, 10.25 inches.
▪ Coming tomorrow: a recap of last weekend’s district and sub-regional tournaments.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
