The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate Unified bowling team is again state bound after taking second at regionals in Ignacio on Friday, Nov. 14.
It will be the team’s fourth consecutive trip to state. The team took 19th at state last year, 11th the year before that and 12th its first year at state.
Special Education Teacher Nicky Schneider notes in an email to The SUN that this will be the seniors’ fourth year in a row going to state.
“They leave behind a great legacy,” she wrote.
The team took second at regionals with a pinfall of 479 over five games, landing the Pirates in second behind Bayfield and ahead of Grand Junction Central.
“During regionals everyone on the team scored at least one strike,” Schneider wrote.
Schneider also highlights the growth of the team in the email, writing, “after a great year of bowling Justus and Juriah Carter have come a long way. Justus is our top scorer and Juriah is the only one on the team with a turkey.”
She adds, “Emile and Koen our helper bowlers have been challenging themselves all year to be better bowlers.”
This year’s varsity squad includes Juriah Carter, Justus Carter, Samuel Kelly, Kaillen Taylor and Felise Valdez, according to Schneider.
This year’s JV team is Carson Pilgrim, Reece Hammer, Levi Denton, Brielle Hinger, Emile Schneider and Koen Pitcher, she adds.
The team is coached by Ben Vaughn, Schneider and assistant coach Lily Fernandez.
“All in all everyone has put in hard work and dedication to make the season a great success,” Schneider wrote.
On to state
The state championships will take place on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Bowlero at Lone Tree, with action kicking off at 10:45 a.m.
Twenty-eight teams (the top two to three teams from each of the state’s 10 regions) will take part in the tournament.
As the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) explains, the championships will be tournament play, where each team will bowl five three-player coed/modified Baker Games with the top-three teams being determined by total pinfall through those five games.
All teams will play in an open format; there will be no bracket. The top two scores (based on total pinfall) will determine the state champion and runner up.
A Baker Game, CHSAA notes, “is when team members rotate between the three players with each participant rolling one ball before a teammate rolls the next. Regardless of a spare or strike, the next participant will always roll the next ball. This format gives equal playing time for each member, creating meaningful participation that is essential to the Unified Sports® model.”
“There are five participating at state and all the other JV players are going to be supporting along the way and it’s been so hard to choose the five players because everyone is so close at skill level,” Schneider highlights.
Schneider adds the team is happy it will competing alongside Bayfield, the region’s winner, at state.
“Each week at practice we would be right next to Bayfield, and we are so pleased that it is the two of us going to state together,” she wrote.
What is Unified bowling?
Unified bowling became a sanctioned sport under CHSAA in 2019, with play beginning during the 2020-2021 season. It is in partnership with Special Olympics Colorado.
Special Olympics Unified sports combine students with intellectual disabilities and Unified partners without intellectual disabilities on bowling teams for training and competition.
The Archuleta School District Board of Education added Unified bowling as a sport at PSHS in the fall of 2021.
randi@pagosasun.com
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