On Friday, at Hilltop Bowl in Troy, both the FMCC Men and Women captured their first Mountain Valley Conference Championships in bowling since the inception of the program just three years ago. The men edged HVCC for their first place finish while the women distanced themselves from SCCC to capture their title.
In the ladies first match, balanced scoring paced the Raiders. The three game totals for all five women were within 50 pins of each other. High scores were Shayla Staves 200, Allie Borst 179, Angelique LaFreniere 174, Rebecca Van Deusen 170, and Makayla Williams with a 168. Makayla Williams returned to form in the second match rolling a 3 game total of 580, with a high game of 202. Rebecca VanDeusen also posted a fine triple of 555, high of 227. Allie Borst followed close behind with a triple of 545 and a high of 212. Other high games were Shayla Staves 163, and Angel LaFreniere with a 142. The Lady Raiders finished with an impressive league record of 17-1.
On the Men's side, FM entered the day with a 3 point lead on HVCC, but they knew they had their work cut out for them as HVCC was hosting the match and accustomed to their lane conditions. FM finished second to HV after the first match, losing one point in the standings, staying 2 points ahead with one 3 game match left.
In the second and final match of the day, FM needed to finish no lower than second to capture their first title and did just that. Once again HV held serve, winning first place but the male Raiders followed close behind to capture second place in the match and winning the league by a single point. Bryan Green paced the Raiders in the first match with a 3 game total of 696 and a high of 257. Ethan Hadcock continued his steady bowling with a triple of 642 and a high single of 225. Andy Sitterly had a 612 series with a high of 208.Hunter Meher contributed with a 586 and a high single of 209. Brandon Little followed with a 580 and a 202. Richard Taylor was next with a 572 series with a high of 207. Zach Rinehart posted a high single of 258 and Brandon King rounded out the first match scoring with a high single of 199. The team total of 3148 was impressive but MV bested the Raiders by nearly a 100 pins.
In the second and final match, FM needed to finish second or better to clinch the title and did just that. Once again HV edged the Raiders but the three game total of 3156 by the FM men was plenty enough to clinch their first title. High games for the second set were Andy Sitterly 248, Richard Taylor with a 236, Bryan Green 225,Ethan Hadcock 222, Brandon King 213,Hunter Meher 209, Brandon Little 194, and Zach Rinehart 176.
At the conclusion of the match, Head Coach Tom Rathbun was named both Men's Conference Coach of the Year, and Women's Conference Coach of the Year.
"It is certainly a great honor but an honor I share with my Assistant Coach Dave Hayward. We both bring different skills to the table and it's a good combination. But the best coaches in the world can't go far without good athletes. Our bowlers worked incredibly hard this year. We got off to a rough start in the fall but made some changes and they continued to work hard. They are a fine group of young Men and Women who represented their College well and it has been an absolute pleasure working with them," commented Coach Rathbun.
The Raiders will have one full day to rest up and will be back at it when they travel to Utica on Sunday to bowl in Regionals at PinORama. Competition begins at 9:30 A.M.
