The Milton High School Bowling Team consists of six girls and 17 boys. On Feb. 28, the boys team claimed the regional title in Lancaster with a score of 4450. On March 16, the boys team finished fifth in the State championship in Pittsburgh.
The team practices two times a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. “They practice with drills like baseball or soccer,” said Bowling Coach Mark Artley.
The team practices at Imperial Lanes and has conference matches. Coach Artley started coaching right out of college in 2018, while Bowling Coach Andy Neuer started coaching when the game became more popular in 2001. Coach Artley said that his favorite part of coaching is that it has created a lot of relationships.
“It’s like being in a family when you play, but you have your own individual score,” said Coach Neuer.
Matches are broken into five points, with one point for each game, three games total, one point for the two baker games added together. Baker games are when five people are set into one game, playing for one point for the total pins of the match. Whoever gets the higher number of pins knocked down wins a point for that match.
“The boys team won the conference title on Feb. 19 against Shikellamy. Final score 3-2.” said Coach Artley. This is the sixth time the boys have won the conference, with most recent being 2021-2022, and before that was 2014. The farthest the boys’ team had previously gone was a sixth-place finish for the boys at States in 2014. The farthest the girls’ team has gone is a fourth-place finish in States in 2004.
“The highest individual place would be me in 2013 when I finished second in the state,” said Coach Artley. They are looking for anyone who is interested in joining the sport. Anyone that is interested should come to signups in November, Coach Artley said.
