Oxford’s varsity bowlers traveled to Grand Blanc Lanes on Friday and Saturday for regionals– where the Lady Cats bowling team qualified for the MHSAA State Finals for the third year in a row. The Wildcat boys team fell short of qualifying that day.

A total of 15 teams vyed for just three spots at the state finals, with each team bowling six baker games and three regular team games. Among those teams were power teams like Davison, Clarkston, Bay City Western and Carmen Ainsworh, which each bowled in the finals last year.

The Wildcat boys never really got rolling during regionals but were in the hunt through the baker games. They found themselves just 56 pins out of the cut and in sixth place after the six baker games. The team moved into fifth place after game one but that was as close as they came.

A poor game 2 ended the boys’ four-year streak of advancing to the finals.

Davison, Carman-Ainsworth and Flushing will advance to team finals.

The Lady Cats team bowled very well at regionals, placing second behind Flushing by only 19 points after six baker games.

In game 1, the Lady Cats rolled a solid 856. The girls fell to fifth place 52 pins out of the third position.

In game number 2 the girls picked up the pace, shooting 887 and remained in the fifth spot.

Oxford posted the best score of the third round with a 903 score while Lake Orion (800), Flushing (810) and Saginaw Heritage (780) all posted their lowest scores of the day.

The Lady Cats moved into second spot and on to the state finals. The team missed the regional title by 12 pins behind Bay City Western.

In individuals, Oxford sent 12 bowlers to compete at regionals, each looking for a chance to move on the MHSAA State Finals. The field was set with 86 boys and 90 girls shooting to be in the top 10 at Regionals to move on. Those competing bowled six games with the top 10-pin count advancing.

The girls had one bowler advance, junior Megan Armbruster. Armbruster bowled consistently all day long, posting a total of 1146. She bowled games of 191,182,180,183,180 and 230 to finish third in the region. This is Megan’s first time qualifying for the state finals.

Junior Claire Sandstrom finished 15th and senior Jenny Legault finished 17th. All six of the Oxford girls finished in the top 40.

On the boys side, three individual bowlers qualified to compete in the finals. Seniors Christian and Tanner Cartner, along with sophomore Zach Barrows, each advanced.

Barrows was the highest-finishing Oxford bowler in fifth with a score of 1226. Christian Cartner finished sixth with a score of 1221 and Tanner Cartner finished eighth, shooting 1193. Tanner and Christian have each been to the finals once before while Barrows will make his first trip to the event.

MHSAA bowling finals will be held on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 at Sterling Lanes in Sterling Heights.