INDIANAPOLIS – The Missouri Baptist University men's bowling program showed a drastic improvement from last year's Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic to this year's marquee event. At the Tier 1 competition in Indianapolis, MBU jumped up 11 spots in the team standings from 2019 to 2020 and improved by 269 total pins.
 
The Spartans did work from Saturday to Sunday, moving up four spots to 59^th in the final standings following 15 Baker games to finish out the tournament.
 
In the Lee Johnson Memorial Friday Night Eliminator, the Missouri Baptist men had six bowlers register for the event and one in particular rose to the occasion. Junior Zachary Johnson finished in the Top 10 percent of the field (21^st out of 246) bowling a 201 and 210 in the USBC-certified two-game tournament.
 
Johnson was also the leader of the pack in the individual standings Saturday finishing first among Spartan bowlers. Powered by back-to-back games above 200 (Game 2 - 200, Game 3 -225), Johnson placed 130^th out of 524 participants with 1,123 pins and a 187.16 average.
 
Not far behind was Dakoda Phelps, who totaled 1,100 pins and averaged 183.33. The sophomore from De Soto, Mo. finished in 147^th place and had the two highest single-game scores of any MBU bowler with a 232 in Game 2 and a 235 in Game 5.
 
The next wave of Spartans was comprised of Jonah Drush and Adam Gimbel, who finished 274^th and 286^th, respectively. Drush bowled a high game of 220 and averaged 177.80 on Saturday, while Gimbel totaled 871 pins for a 174.20 average.
 
Other participants included Zachary Reichert (370^th, 156.25 avg.), Jaron Graner (414^th, 174.33 avg.) and Cameron Stillman (524^th, 111.00 avg.).
 
UP NEXT
With the USBC Collegiate Regular Season coming to a close, the Spartans' season continues after being invited to participate in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 29 in Dubuque, Iowa.