Bullitt East has inclusion everywhere, even on the bowling team. 

Junior David Boyer and junior Zachary Compton, two students from Project Unify, bowl as part of the Bullitt East bowling team.

One of the two teams, that participated in the Unified Regionals tournament, won the whole thing. None of the bowlers were able to advance in the Singles Regionals tournament. All members of the boys Bowling Regionals tournament, just look forward to that match and are trying to forget about what happened in that Singles Regionals tournament. 

There were two teams at the bowling Unified Regionals tournament, that were representing Compton and sophomore Austin Hale, and Boyer and senior Dylan Young. 

Young and Boyer were eliminated in the first round, and the people that won against them was none other than our other team, Compton and Hale. Everyone had to play a match, and get a score, to determine who they would be facing off against in the first round. 

Boyer and Young got the best score out of all the teams, and Hale and Compton got the worst score out of all of the eight teams. The bracket was actually set up to where the best team was going to play against the worst team in the first round. So, the team competed against itself.“So, we had two pairs: Dylan Young and David Boyer was a pair, Austin Hale and Zachary Compton was a pair. We bowled one game to get a score, and kind of crazy; Dylan and David had the number one high score, and then Austin and Zachary had the lowest score of the eight teams that were entered. But then Austin and Zachary had to bowl against David and Dylan and defeated them by, I think five pins, and then they finished it out by winning two more matches, to be the region three champions,” said Bowling Coach Lenny Raley. 

Hale and Compton then had to face off against Pleasure Ridge Park (PRP) High School, and then finally face off against Doss High School, and they actually won the whole tournament, out of all teams competing. “Highlights, today, would be us winning, of course, and then, another highlight would be all my strikes and then whenever Zachary made spares and was able to clutch,” said Hale, “I feel honored (to be Compton’s partner), because I mean, I couldn’t be here without having some skill, and be chosen by coach, himself. Yeah, I just feel real happy. We’re doing it for a good cause.” 

Young is happy with how he and Boyer did that day, and he’s glad that he got to be taken out by one of their own. “I think it went well. I mean, even though we got knocked out by Austin and Zach, in our first round. I still think it went pretty good because me and David got 180. So, I’m more than happy with that,” said Young, “I think one of the highlights is when me and David both bowled our 180-something, in a game. That was pretty big because considering, we were the number one seed, and stuff, but, you know, I’m glad that we at least got knocked out by someone on our side, you know. But I’d probably say the overall highlight is probably when Austin and Zach won the tournament overall.” 

Boyer felt disappointed in himself, but not upset, and he’s still happy for Hale and Compton winning. Although, Boyer is sad that this is the last time that he will be playing with senior Dylan Young “(The match) went good,” said Boyer, “Dylan’s a great bowler and great friend.”

Young is sad that this will be the last time that he is ever going to be playing with any of the Project Unify kids. “I think it was pretty good. I couldn’t have had a better teammate, than David. He’s a good bowler and a good man. I like him. And, I think it was pretty good, because I know it makes him and Zach both happy, especially for Zach, since him and Austin won the Unified tournament,” said Young, “Yeah, it’ll be sad, because I know last year I bowled with Zach, and it was fun bowling with him, and then, this year, I get to bowl with David. So, I think that’s pretty good. I’ll always remember it. They’re good people. I love them.” Young couldn’t have asked for a better person to bowl with.

At the Singles Regionals tournament, there were six bowlers; the top four best boy bowlers, and the only two girl bowlers. There was Hale, Young, junior Adam Young, senior Logan Parrish, senior Kaitlynn Durrett and freshman Katie Olds. “Adam started his round with a 211. So, that was an awesome start. Then, he went 174, 156. Austin, like I said, had 200, 204, and then, the third game just wasn’t as strong, at 155. Logan was okay at 182, then had a tough game at 147, and came back with a 182. And then Dylan had a 165, came strong with a 213, and then finished with a score of 157. So, again, a good game, one good game at least for everyone, but it took three to advance, and so that didn’t happen. On the girls side, Kaitlynn Durrett had 115, 148, and 136. And then Katie Olds had a 92, a 141, and I don’t have the final score, but it was like a 125, I think, (it was actually a 105),” said Raley.

Hale didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 559 overall, and placed 12 of 42 different bowlers. Adam Young didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 541 overall, and placed 15 of 42 different bowlers, Dylan Young didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 535 overall, and placed 17 of 42 different bowlers, Parrish didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 511 overall, with placing 24 of 42 different bowlers, Durrett didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 399 overall, and placed 16 of 32 different bowlers and finally, Olds didn’t make it into the top eight, with a 338 overall, and placed 19 of 32 different bowlers. Therefore, there were no real matches, for Singles Regionals, because nobody actually progressed into the top eight. 

Hale did the best out of all the bowlers at this tournament, and he’s happy that he got that opportunity, but he thinks he let it get to his head too much. “It definitely lifted my spirits, but I think I let it get to my head too much, and I put slash (/) felt more pressure on myself since I ended off on a horrible game. I felt that way because I knew I had a chance to go to state again,” said Hale. 

Hale also actually tries to stay away from his standings, but he does understand how each one of the bowlers did today, at the tournament. “I plan on trying to stay away from standings. My dad always said, ‘That once you know that you’re doing good, that’s the moment you do bad.’ I also plan on focusing more on how the lane changes. Oil isn’t permanent, you know,” said Hale, “Everyone started off pretty strong; Adam was unstoppable, Logan was nailing the pins, I couldn’t be stopped, and Dylan just had a rough start is all. Still trying to figure it out, especially after some mechanical issues during practice.”

Adam Young was the second-best bowler at the tournament, and he thinks that it is alright to have that feeling, but he still doesn’t see very many highlights that happened at that tournament. “Honestly, I’m not sure we had any decent highlights, except us bowling some 200 games,” said Adam Young, “It felt alright. I was just having a good day at the start, and I tried to keep it going, but I just couldn’t hold on to it.”

To get ready for the Boys Regionals tournament, Adam Young believes that the team needs to become more consistent with their scores, and not let the bad scores get to their head so much. “We just need to stay consistent, and not let our bad scores get in our head, and just shake it off, and move on and learn the new pattern really quickly,” said Adam Young, “Yeah. We all have a chance to make it; even though we didn’t today, we are going to try and make it to state on Monday, at the team regionals.”

Hale can’t wait for the Boys Regionals tournament, because it’s really a whole new shot for the team. “At team regionals, it’s a whole new shot, which is definitely a benefit to us. Overall, I think we can make it together,” said Hale.

Raley just believes that they got to go home and get their heads screwed on right, and just keep on practicing. “Well, now, these guys got to go home, and their heads right. I mean, it’s Saturday and we bowl Monday at 4 p.m., and so they have until then to kind of erase what was going on today, get rid of the negative thoughts. Think about the positives that we built throughout the season, knowing that we are good enough, and we will be good enough to advance as a team. So, that’s going to be the main thing: just put this behind us. I mean, some of them may get in a bowling alley tomorrow, and just work on it. Again, I don’t think you can bowl too much, but, mainly, it’s just going to be mental, and coming back with the right frame of mind, to believe that we are good enough and we will get the job done on Monday,” said Raley.

The next event for the bowling team is the Unified State tournament Feb. 6 at Executive Strike and Spare at 8 a.m.