The new bowling program at FMCC started conference play on Wednesday, as they hosted all schools from the Mountain Valley Conference and had a very respectable start. The format for Conference play is three games in the first round, then another three games in the second round. Both rounds are entirely separate and bowled on different lanes. FM who is bowling with a Co-ed team facing only men's teams, finished 3rd in the early round and 4th in the later round.

"Considering this is our first ever conference match, I thought it went very well", commented Coach Tom Rathbun. "We were missing one of our better bowlers and we were still competitive, I thought we made a good showing."

In the opening round, Charlie Cusano paced the Raiders with a 674 series. His high game was an impressive 279. Damian Sullivan rolled a 560 series with a high of 235.  Other contributors in the early round were Shirley Glynn with a high game of 171, Kendra Sweet with a 177, and Daniel McCoy with a 174.  Recently added to the roster was Matt Frisch and his first two games were a 203 and a 212.

Conditions got a little tougher in the afternoon and the overall scores reflected that. Some of the high scores in the second round were Sullivan 214, Frisch 189, Cusano 184, Kendra Sweet 167, McCoy 163, and Sydney Palmatier 166. 

The order of finish for the first round was: Hudson Valley, Schenectady, FMCC, Mohawk Valley, Herkimer, and Adirondack.  The second round order was: Mohawk Valley, Hudson Valley, Schenectady, FMCC, Herkimer, and Adirondack.

For the women's teams, the order of finish for the first and second round were the same: Schenectady, Hudson Valley, and Herkimer.

FM's next Conference match will be hosted by Herkimer on Friday, Jan. 27th at State Bowling Center in Ilion, NY.