Collegiate Ticker - Jan. 15, 2020

With class back in session in 2020, the Mount Mercy women and St. Ambrose men aced their first assignment of the second semester by winning the bracket at the Storm Baker Challenge in Addison, Illinois.

A total of 18 women’s and 18 men’s varsity programs traveled last weekend to Stardust Bowl to compete. Qualifying consisted of 40 Baker games over two days with the top eight teams in the women’s and men’s divisions advancing to a single-elimination bracket. All bracket matches were best-of-five Baker format.

In the women’s division, defending champion St. Ambrose cruised to the top seed, finishing the 40-game block with a 7,384 total. Grand View was second with 7,229, and Mount Mercy was third with 7,208. Saint Xavier earned the final spot in bracket play by qualifying eighth with 6,815.

Mount Mercy recorded wins over Robert Morris-Illinois (3.5-1.5) and Grand View (3-1) to set up a title tilt with No. 5 Madonna, which advanced by sweeping St. Francis-Illinois (3-0) and besting Saint Xavier (3-1).

Mount Mercy took the early momentum with a 189-145 victory in Game 1 and completed the sweep of Madonna with wins of 207-193 and 214-168.

In the men’s division, 2019 champion McKendree paced the field throughout qualifying with an 8,129 total. St. Ambrose was second with 8,023, and Mount Mercy was third with 7,620. Robert Morris-Illinois earned the final spot in the bracket with a 7,128 total, one pin ahead of Saint Xavier.

St. Ambrose rolled to wins over Judson (3-1) and Rock Valley (3-0) to advance to the championship round, while McKendree swept Robert Morris-Illinois and Calumet to claim a return trip to the title match.

St. Ambrose swept McKendree, posting victories of 200-173, 211-201 and 247-204, to take the title.

In other USBC Collegiate action over the weekend:

- At the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Conference (SWIBC) No. 5 in Dallas, the Oklahoma Christian men and women swept the top spots.

- At the SCAD Bee Bash I in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the Savannah College of Art and Design-Savannah women and Martin Methodist men finished at the top of the leaderboard.

- At the Buckeye Baker Classic in Columbus, Ohio, the Notre Dame-Ohio men and Alma women were victorious in bracket play.

- At SWIBC No. 6 in Plano, Texas, the Baker women rolled to the top spot, while the Oklahoma Christian men claimed a second victory of the weekend.

For complete results and the full schedule for the 2019-2020 season, click here.