By: Kyle Moylan
Mike Search came into this season excited about the prospects for his bowling teams. And certainly nothing the New Egypt boys or girls did in the regular-season opener on Monday changed the coach’s mind.
Both the boys and girls defeated Maple Shade, 4-0, to get the season rolling in the right direction.
Rich Reynolds had the high game (222) and series (576) for New Egypt.
Dan Bunce had a 200 game as part of a 515 series. Dan Sepp had a 174 as part of a 495 series. Alex Funck had a 164 as part of a 469 series.
With one of the starters out, Search took the opportunity to try out two new bowlers for the other series. Greg Reynolds rolled one game and came away with a 132. Alex Hauge bowled games of 157 and 115.
Nicole Kukoda had the top game (198) and series (546) for the girls. Kathleen Schmidt had a 190 game as part of a 440 series. Amanda Stinson had a 180 game as part of a 439 series. Joy Otten had a 154 game as part of a 434 series. Karen Leidtka had a 152 game as part of a 369 series.
Before the regular season got on the way, New Egypt took part in the Bishop Ahr Tournament on Saturday.
"The kids did really well," Search noted. "The boys were 11th out of 50 teams. The boys 2943 was their highest total pin average ever. The boys had an outstanding day."
Rich Reynolds had a high game of 258.
"That didn’t put him in the top three, but he was real close," Search said.
Dan Bunce had a series of 681.
"The kid that placed third had a 688, so he just missed being in the top three," Search said.
Kukoda had a 198 game, but overall Search noted it was just an average day for his girls, who were 19th out of 38.
The other news to come out of the week was an announcement that the state format has been changed. Following the lead of the other sports, bowling will now determine champions based on the size of the school.
"It used to be almost impossible to get to states," Search said. "Now there will be four state champions."
Considering New Egypt is in the smallest group, this was great news for the teams.
"This will give us a good shot at advancing to states this year," Search said. "The kids are real excited about this."
New Egypt was scheduled to face Burlington Township this past Tuesday. It will be at Medford Tech for a match on Friday.

