Leavenworth’s Shanice Brown took second place in the 6A girls state bowling meet on Friday morning. The Pioneers’ lone representative at the meet, Brown was in 11th place heading into the final of her three games Friday, but was able to post the highest game of any girl on the day, a 253, in the final outing to take the silver medal.
Head coach Shad Langfoss said that Brown was able to just relax and bowl her game to recover and get into the medals.
“The third game she really stepped it up and a couple of other people fell down and that benefited us quite a bit,” Langfoss said. “We tried to just tighten up her line, she was throwing the ball a little harder because the lanes were really oily. In the second game she was getting a little frustrated ... but she relaxed a little bit and came out strong that last game. She started out with five strikes in a row, then had a spare, and ended with five more strikes. When it came down to it, she really delivered.”
Brown’s 253 added with earlier games of 209 and 196 to finish with a 658 series for second place. Leela Yahya of Maize won with a 678 and Shawnee Mission South’s Shelby Byrnes took third with a 657. Wichita Heights won the team title on the day.
The state medal is the third for Brown in her high school career, and the senior qualified for the state meet all four year. Langfoss said he couldn’t have been happier for Brown after Friday’s silver-medal effort.
“She bowled really well,” Langfoss said. “She wanted to finish in the top five. She has that ability, she kept her calm and she delivered. She was very happy, I was pleased and her parents were really pleased. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from her.”
