INDIANAPOLIS – Greenfield’s Tandess O’Neal was among the top five pre-tournament qualifiers for bowling’s U.S. Women’s Open to be held at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
All 108 competitors for the U.S. Women’s Open were determined after Tuesday’s pre-tournament qualifier, where 24 moved on to the tournament proper and a chance for a major championship.
Malaysia’s Esther Cheah led the field on a tough 41-foot pattern with an eight-game total of 1,707, good for just over a 213 average.
O’Neal was among the top five qualifiers that included Marcia Kloempken of Pleasant View, Utah; Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida and Brittany Smith of Van Meter, Iowa.
Bowlers will have a practice sessions Wednesday, as each pattern used in competition this week will be laid out for competitors.
Thursday through Saturday will be qualifying rounds, each day starting at 8 a.m., for eight games each round for all three squads that bowl. Start times are 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. for the other two squads of each day, and all squads will bowl eight games.
After the third qualifying round, a cut will be made to the top third of the field, who will return Sunday for the fourth and final qualifying round at 10 a.m., again being eight games.
The top 24 after qualifying will begin the first of three rounds of round-robin match play later at 5 p.m. The final two rounds will be Monday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the top five after match play will bowl in the live TV stepladder finals show Tuesday June 18 at 6 p.m., on CBS Sports Network.
The No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will begin the stepladder and each match will be one game head-to-head, with the winner moving up until the title match against the No. 1 seed.
All rounds of qualifying and match play leading up to the TV finals will be streamed live on BowlTV.
Track and Field
Ryba wins at Meet of Champions
Greenfield-Central’s Elliot Ryba, just one week after winning the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals title in the high jump, won Saturday’s high jump competition at the 50th Annual Midwest Meet of Champions at Marian University.
Clearing one-inch higher than he did at the state meet, Ryba won with a height of 6-feet, 11-inches.
G-C classmate Kirk Knecht was second in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 11 3/4-inches.
Both competed for the Seniors team that defeated the Juniors 257-146.
For the Juniors, Mt. Vernon’s Ahmed Saleh was runner-up in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:12.58. MV teammate Xaiden Jenson was seventh in the race with a time of 4:33.19.
In the girls competition, won by the Seniors 221-189, Greenfield-Central senior Savannah Lake was second in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash.
Lake finished in 12.30 seconds in the 100 and 25.59 seconds in the 200.
Basketball
Marquee matchups top Hughes Showcase schedule
The games have been scheduled for the 2024 Charlie Hughes Girls and Boys Basketball Showcase and the games slated for Hancock County teams do not disappoint.
The girls showcase takes place at Mt. Vernon and Hamilton Southeastern high schools this weekend. The boys showcase is June 21-23 in Carmel and Westfield.
Eastern Hancock and Mt. Vernon’s girls teams will be participating. Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and New Palestine will play in the boys event.
On the boys side, Greenfield-Central plays on Friday and Saturday.
All four of the Cougars games are against teams that were state-ranked or had long tournament runs last season. On Friday, June 21 at 1:15 p.m., at Carmel, the Cougars play Class 4A semifinalist Jeffersonville. At 3:45 in Carmel’s main gym, the Cougars face Lawrence North. On Saturday, G-C takes on state runner-up Ben Davis at 11:30 a.m and Cathedral at 3:15 p.m. Both games are at Carmel with the Cathedral game in the main gymnasium.
Mt. Vernon has two games scheduled, both are on Saturday. The Marauders take on Trent Sisley’s Heritage Hills team at 11:30 a.m. and Crispus Attucks at 2 p.m. Both games are at Carmel.
New Palestine will play two games Saturday and two games Sunday, the first three will be at Carmel High School.
On Saturday at 3:15 p.m., the Dragons play the team that ended their year at the Southport Regional, Ben Davis. At 5:45 p.m., they’ll take on Cathedral. Sunday’s first game is 10:15 a.m. against Carmel. They will play Class 4A semifinalist Fort Wayne Wayne at 12:45 p.m. at Alleto Sports Complex.
The girls get action underway this week.
At Mt. Vernon Middle School, Eastern Hancock takes on North Decatur, which gave the Royals one of their toughest regular season games last year, at 5:45 p.m. Friday. At 8:15 p.m. at Mt. Vernon High School, the Royals will take on Whitko.
On Saturday, Eastern meets Lafayette Central Catholic at 12:45 p.m. at the middle school. At 3:15 p.m. at MVHS, it will be a rematch of last season’s semi-state championship game with Eastern Hancock facing Brownstown Central.
Mt. Vernon will play four games all on its main court.
On Friday at 2 p.m., the Marauders take on Rensselaer Central. At 4:30 p.m., Mt. Vernon plays Evansville North.
On Saturday at 10:15 a.m., Mt. Vernon plays Fort Wayne Northrop. At 2 p.m., against a school it traditionally plays each year during the regular season, East Central, will be the opponent.
