JACKSON, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University bowling teams kicked off the 2023-24 season at the Concordia University Dirty Bird Classic on Saturday at JAX 60 in Jackson.
 
The SAU women's team claimed first place in the 10-team field and won the match play portion of the tournament as well, while the men's squad finished third out of 11 teams and lost in the quarterfinals of match play.
 
 
THE BASICS
EVENT: Dirty Bird Classic
TEAM FINISH: Men – 3rd/11; Women – 1st/10
LOCATION: Jackson, Mich. | JAX 60
 
 
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spring Arbor women's team posted a final score of 6419 to win the event by 272 pins. In match play, the Cougars defeated Aquinas in two straight games before knocking off host Concordia in the finals 3-0.
• The SAU men's team logged 6922 total pins, finishing 193 behind winner Concordia.

 
 
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Mikayla Ponce led the way for the women's team with a second place overall finish out of nearly 100 bowlers. The junior from Ewa Beach, Hawaii picked up 600 pins – only eight behind the individual champion.
• Emily Pepper and Kayla Tafanelli also finished in the top-10. Pepper was eighth with a 545 and Tafanelli was right behind in ninth with a 542.
• A pair of men's bowlers finished in the top-5 for the Cougars. Caleb Tate landed in third place with 629 pins while Carson Kohler finished fifth with 617.

 
 
UP NEXT
Spring Arbor travels to Grandville, Michigan for the CU Bowling Tourney, hosted by Cornerstone University, on Saturday, Oct. 21.