INDIANAPOLIS - The Morehead State men and Robert Morris-Illinois women claimed titles at the 2013 Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic - the largest USBC Collegiate event of the season. The event was broadcast on BowlTV.
Morehead State entered match play as the top seed after nine traditional games on two challenging lane conditions and rolled to the title, ending the day with a 4-2 win over Wichita State. The Eagles advanced to the championship match with a 2-1 win against McKendree, while Wichita topped Calumet College of St. Joseph, 2-0.
Robert Morris turned in a consistent performance and defeated Pikeville, 4.5-1.5, to win the women's crown. The Eagles defeated top-seeded Wichita with a 2-0 win to earn a spot in the title match, while Pikeville downed Wright State, 2-1.
The event featured 77 men's teams and 55 women's teams. All teams bowled nine team games on two different lane conditions before the field was cut to the top 12 on the men's side and top eight for the women. The first four seeds in the men's division earned first-round byes in match play, which was contested on a third lane condition.
The Morehead men finished qualifying with a 9,182 nine-game total and were joined in the top four by Calumet (9,116), Wichita State (9,021) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (8,935).
The Wichita women dominated qualifying, finishing with an 8,819 total to claim the top spot in match play. Pikeville was second with 8,580 and was followed by Webber International (8,484) and Robert Morris-Illinois (8,475).
Individually, William Penn's Cameron Foster finished with games of 247 and 266 to lead the men with a 1,952 nine-game total, a 216.89 average. Calumet's Mitch Katic was second with 1,928, followed by Brandon Barboza of William Penn (1,915), Tyler Young of Robert Morris-Peoria (1,913) and Morehead State's E.J. Smith (1,909).
Central Oklahoma's Grace Hall led the way on the women's side with a 1,826 total, a 202.89 average, and she was followed by McKendree teammates Trista Flowers (1,783) and Marilyn Gawlik (1,781), Webber International's Stephanie Martins (1,781) and Pikeville's Christina Halen and Wichita's Jazreel Tan, who tied at 1,772.
As the collegiate season winds down, teams now will look forward to the upcoming USBC Sectional Qualifiers. The teams headed to the sectional events will be announced later this week. The top four men's teams and top four women's teams from each sectional will advance to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships in Lincoln, Neb., April 18-20.
RESULTS: Men | Women | Men's bracket | Women's bracket
LANE CONDITIONS: Saturday | Sunday morning | Finals