With the boys bowling season quickly approaching, the team is hoping to build off of last year’s successes. The first match will be on Thursday, Dec 5th at West lanes. Unfortunately, last year’s team just missed out on a district championship, but they did finish with a winning record. During the offseason, most of the bowlers on the team participated in leagues all around Omaha to help them improve. This group of athletes is excited to see the successes that this season is going to bring.
This season there are eight seniors on the team. Coach McDonald talks about the seniors and how they are going to be big assets on the team.
“We have eight seniors that are undoubtedly going to help us this year as we get deeper into the season. Having seniors who have participated in a state tournament run and a district championship will give us the experience we need to face tough competition throughout the season,” McDonald said.
Senior Mason Allen talks about how he is looking forward to the upcoming season and he is excited to play one last season with his brother before he heads off to college. Allen signed to Midlands University earlier this month for bowling.
“This will be my last year bowling with my little brother. I’m looking forward to making those last memories before I go off to college at Midland University,” Allen said.
Lane conditions have a big impact on the bowlers and takes some time to get used to. Senior Ian Steyskal talked about spending his free time in different bowling alleys to practice and test out different conditions.
“I bowl in a league every Saturday on different oil patterns in order to get used to different lane conditions. I also just spend a lot of my free time at any bowling alley to get practice in,” Steyskal said.
With the re-classified districts, this year there will be more and better competition for Westside. The team was placed in one of the hardest districts and they are eager to face this competition and hopeful to make it to state.
“We are one of the strongest teams in our district. I’m looking forward to hopefully returning to the state tournament,” Allen said.
McDonald talks about what they can do to improve this season during practices and what they need to focus on. These boys will not only work hard in practice but also put in the work on their own.
“We are going to be working on picking up more spares this year. We did a nice job getting strikes last year but we need to pick it up a notch with our spare game,” McDonald said. “Being more consistent with getting spares will help us out tremendously in the home stretch of our season. We are also working on being more positive. Not getting down if you screw up and to overcome adversity is something that we are working hard on this year.”
After falling short to Creighton Prep at the end of the season and placing second in the district, the team is wanting to take the district championship title.
“This year our bowlers are very focused on continuing the success we had on the lanes the past two seasons. Our seniors are very hungry to finish strong and to try and return to the state tournament,” McDonald said.
As the season kicks off, the Westside bowlers are determined to build on their past experiences and push even harder to achieve their goals. With the mix of seasoned seniors and driven underclassmen, the team has the right balance of leadership and fresh energy to compete at the highest level. Coach McDonald’s optimism is reflected in the athletes’ dedication and their commitment to leaving it all on the lanes.
