Kimes, Matz finish third overall in Scotch Doubles competition for Sturgis bowling.
STURGIS — The Sturgis bowling and swim teams have started their seasons.
On Saturday, the Trojan bowlers competed in the Trojan Baker Bash. The girls finished second and the boys were third overall. In the finals, Edwardsburg beat Sturgis 149-113, 142-138 and 152-115. The boys were upended by Battle Creek Pennfield in five games. Pennfield has now won the Baker Bash three years in a row.
"Fun and exciting day. Quite pleased with the results," Sturgis coach Scott Spahr said. "Experience gained and headed in the right direction. Trusting that process."
For the tournament, the Trojan girls qualified first with 1,374 total pins knocked over, the boys were second in their portion with 1,523 pins.
On Saturday, Sturgis competed in the Sue Hutchings Memorial Scotch Doubles.
The duo of Khara Kimes and Andrew Matz finished third place overall on the day. They beat a pair of bowlers from Coldwater 178-177 in that third-place matchup. To get there, the Trojan duo knocked off Coldwater 189-165 but fell in the semifinals to top-seeded Marshall 169-165.
Sturgis' team of Brooklyn Moody and Bryce Smoker finished fifth. They were seeded eighth and eventually fell to the team from Marshall 199-187. Sturgis' team of Miley Holden and Josh Groff finished eighth overall.
The Trojan teams beat Vicksburg last week as well. The boys won 22-8 and the girls won 29-1.
Bryce Smoker rolled a career-high series of 381 with games of 169 and 212. Matz totaled 356 pins (197-159) and Josh Groff carded a 321 (171-150). For the girls, Moody posted a career-high series of 294 with games of 146 and 148. Holden bowled a 385 to lead the way, posting a career-best 205 in her second game.
Sturgis competed in the Kickoff the Season Baker Eliminator as well. The boys were 10th out of 25 teams, the girls finished ninth of 18.
The Trojan boys also beat Edwardsburg, 29-1. The girls fell 23-7.
The Sturgis swim team has competed a pair of times already this season. To start, the Trojans swam in the 78th Cereal Bowl Relays, finishing 11th out of 15 teams. Sturgis registered 148 points on the day. Taking first place was Portage Central (360) while Loy Norrix (351) and Forest Hills Eastern/Northern (308) also finished in the top three.
Sturgis logged a pair of fourth-place finishes on the day. The 200 breaststroke relay team of Gavan Miller, Seth Larimer, Aidan Owsley and Reece Miller posted a time of 2:11.62. The 400 individual medley relay team of Reece Miller, Owsley, Larimer and Gavan Miller recorded a time of 4:29.40.
On Tuesday, the Trojans dropped an 87-59 decision to Allegan.
Sturgis won three races on the evening.
Reece Miller recorded a time of 1:02.87 to win the 100 backstroke. Gavan Miller swam a time of 1:09.98 to win the 100 breaststroke. Claiming first place in the 400 freestyle relay was the team of Cal Langworthy, Garrett Denton, Julien Dejnowski and Cohen Hart at 4:41.93.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis Trojan bowlers, swimmers start season with solid starts
Category: General Sports
