Veterans are showing the way for the influx of new bowlers

A relatively young Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Bowling team is benefiting from a core group who have competed at the highest level. “We have many skilled bowlers returning from last year,” reported Hawk coach Julia Meyer. “Some of those are those that went to state bowling over the past two years: seniors Jack Mastbergen, Dawson Niichel and Damian Dodge and sophomore Eli Mastbergen. We are excited about many others that can move up to varsity. We are happy to have two girls returning from last season as we had five senior girls that graduated.” Those two returnees are juniors Jordan Lux and Lillian Van Loon.
Senior Skyler Shaffer is back for the boys as is junior Jackson Brower and sophomores Luke Dagel, Hector Diaz, Blake Essing, Graham Lux, Braden Niichel, Noah Niichel and Parker Russell.

Meyer sees potential in the younger members of the team. “We have many bowlers that will be a boost for both boys and girls teams this year,” said the coach. “We have six freshman girls out this season that we are excited to see and they show a lot of promise.” Those girls are Stella Anderson, Kaeley Benson, Jeriann Holtz, Addison Huffman, Kaidence Shaffer and Mason VerHelst. The lone freshman on the boys side is Hunter Daggett.
The coach has taken note of improvement revealed in the early-season sessions. “We have just started practicing for the season and have noticed that the bowlers have been working at their games during the off season,” she said.
The Hawk bowling practices involve honing the basic skills of the sport. “We emphasize the fundamentals in bowling,” stated Meyer. “We focus on drills for making those fundamentals a habit at every practice.”
Those fundamentals will be essential for success during the upcoming season. “I think the competition in our schedule will be a good challenge for us,” commented Meyer. “We will be playing against some teams from our conference that have given us a good competition in the past couple of years and we will be playing most of them again this season.”
Meyer knows that individual development is vital for achieving team goals. “We want to improve as bowlers and get to State with girls and boys teams and individuals,” said Meyer. “That is the ultimate goal. We also want to improve our bowling so in turn we improve our team records and have a winning season for both girls and boys teams. We hope to be ready for the upcoming competitions that start in December.”
The Hawk coach summed up by saying, “We have a lot of talent in the girls and boys teams. Most have been bowling in the Junior bowling program at Locomotion Lanes and also the Middle School program here at HMS. We are looking forward to seeing the support for the teams at the bowling meets as well.”

HMS Bowling Schedule

Coach: Julia Meyer
Tuesday, Dec. 3, JV/V, Estherville Lincoln Central, Locomotion Lanes – Sanborn, 4:30
Thursday, Dec. 5, JV/V, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, at Sergeant Bluff, 4:30
Tuesday, Dec. 10, JV/V, Sioux Central Invite, at Spencer Bowl, 4:30
Tuesday, Dec. 17, JV/V, West Sioux, at Hawarden, 4:30
Thursday, Jan. 9, JV/V, MMCRU, at Marcus, 4:30
Thursday, Jan. 16, JV/V, Estherville Lincoln Central, at Emmetsburg, 4:30
Tuesday, Jan. 21, JV/V, Triangiular (Emmetsburg, West Sioux), Locomotion Lanes – Sanborn, 4:30
Friday, Jan. 31, JV/V, Sioux Central, Locomotion Lanes – Sanborn, 4:30
Tuesday, Feb. 11, JV/V, OABCIG, at Ida Grove (Ida Bowl-Hideaway Lounge), 3:30
Thursday, Feb. 13, JV/V, Pocahontas Area, Locomotion Lanes – Sanborn, 4:30