In Brief: Lakeland's Jake Pelc Wins Bowling Regional

Lakeland’s Jake Pelc qualified for the bowling individual state finals, and both the boys and girls bowling teams qualified for the finals in Battle Creek.

Pelc captured the individual regional championship with a strong six-game performance at Drakeshire Lanes in Farmington Hills on Friday. He won the regional by two pins over his second-place competitor.

“Jake is just a great kid and the best bowler that I have coached in the last five years,” said Lakeland head coach Darren Kehoe. “His maturity level is amazing and he has the emotional makeup is great for competition because he doesn’t let a bad roll affect him at all.” 

The Lakeland boys’ team finished just ahead of Walled Lake Central and Novi Catholic Central. The girls’ team finished in second place behind Clarkston. Both Eagle teams will compete at the 18-team state finals this weekend at the M-66 Bowl in Battle Creek. The first round of the state finals will qualify the top eight teams for match play quarterfinals to determine the state title. 

Nick Hubbard was one of other big reasons that Lakeland advanced to the state finals, Kehoe said. He just missed qualifying for the individual finals by 12 pins. 

“Nick didn’t have his very best performance but he bowled well and left it all out there,” Kehoe said. “I was proud to see his reaction because he was disappointed but he took it well.” 

Alycia Holmyard and Jessica McNabb, the two girls’ team captains led the Eagles into the state finals with a strong performance at Drakeshire Lanes. Although neither qualified individually for the state finals, they were instrumental in a strong team effort, Kehoe said. Sophomore Jennifer Newton also “caught fire” and helped Lakeland to the second-place team finish. 

“Our captains bowled well and Jennifer has been our sixth bowler for much of the year,” Kehoe said. “You need to have that good balance. The girls started out slow but they came on strong near the end. It’s a tough pattern (at Drakeshire Lanes) and whoever can survive six games deserve to get (to the finals).” 

The Division 2 state finals will be held Friday and Saturday. Kehoe feels that Pelc has a great chance to compete for a state title. He also hopes that his two teams can advance to the final eight. 

“Once you get into match play anyone can win,” Kehoe said. “We can’t worry about what the other teams are doing. And we can’t worry about strikes because they will come. We just need to pick up all the spares we can because that’s what often makes the difference.”