SMYRNA, Tenn. – Championship season is in full swing and the Missouri Baptist University men's and women's bowling programs are right in the thick it as they get set to compete in the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team and Individual Championship Sectional Qualifiers. Assigned to the Smyrna Sectional in Smyrna, Tenn., the MBU men's bowling team will be competing in both the Intercollegiate Singles Championships (ISC) Sectional and Team Championships (ITC) Sectional, while the women will only compete in the singles portion.
 
Friday kicks off the weekend of competition for the Sectional Qualifiers with the Individual Singles Championships. The ISC will consist of six (6) total games, with the men taking the AM slot bright-and-early (7 a.m.) and the women beginning at 1:30 p.m.
 
On Saturday and Sunday, the team sectional will consist of 20 Baker games each day for 40 games. The top four teams with the highest total pinfall will advance to the ITC, which will be held May 5-8 in Wyoming, Mich. To move on to the Intercollegiate Singles Championship, an individual must finish in the top six of the sectional qualifier.
 
If available, MBU Bowling will also utilize Facebook Like to stream this weekend's competition: http://www.facebook.com/MBUBowling. BowlTV.com will broadcast each sectional qualifier and qualifying and match-play rounds at the ITC and ISC.
 
UP TO THIS POINT
Leading the way for the men this spring has been senior Dakoda Phelps, who was recently named Second-Team All-Conference in the Spartans' NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping. During the past five tournaments, Phelps has averaged 193.75 pins finishing above 200 at both the 12^th Annual Lions Classic and the Leatherneck Classic. His top finish came at the local Lions Classic event, where he finished 15^th out of 142 bowlers.
 
Fellow senior Zachary Johnson currently ranks second on the men's team with a 186.87 average in 24 games bowled. The St. Charles, Mo. native's top performances this spring were at the Ebonite Warhawk Open (198.50 avg.) and Five Seasons Classic (197.20 avg.), both of which he finished Top 50 in the individual standings.
 
Freshman Bryce Thurman and senior Jonah Drush are averaging ~178 per game, with the freshman slightly higher at 178.95. Thurman's top performance to date came at the Hoosier Classic in February, finishing with 775 pins and a 193.75 average. Drush's top performance also came at the Hoosier Classic as he averaged 197.2 and placed 36^th out of 146 participants. Drush also finished in the top half of the standings at the Ebonite Warhawk Open and Leatherneck Classic events.
 
The upperclassman group of Drush, Johnson, and Phelps was named NAIA Unaffiliated Group Academic All-Conference.
 
On the women's side, freshman Delana Mentel holds down the top spot with two Top-25 finishes and a 174.41 average this spring. Mentel's breakout performance came at the Ebonite Warhawk Open, where she finished totaled 1157 pins (192.83) and finished 17^th out of 117 participants. Two weeks prior, the freshman picked up her first Top-25 finish with 14^th place at the Lions Classic.
 
Not far behind Mentel is the trio of Alex Cruez, Haley Dunn, and Meagan Odum. In 16 games bowled, Cruez is averaging 170.18 and is peaking at the right time, with one of her best outings coming at the Five Seasons Classic two weeks ago. The freshman finished just outside of the Top-25 in 28^th place with a 181.2 average.
 
Dunn and Odum have each logged one Top-25 finish apiece. Dunn's highest finish came at the Lions Classic (21^st), while her highest average came at the Ebonite Warhawk Open. Odum had a career day at the Hoosier Classic, where she finished one spot outside of the Top-10 and was on fire that day with a 192.40 average.
 
Odum and senior Kailyn Senaldi both earned NAIA Unaffiliated Group Academic All-Conference recognition.