Friday, March 16
Smyrna, Tenn.
Stephen F. Austin
at
Columbia 300 Music City Classic
Bowling Wraps Up Regular Season at Columbia 300 Music City Classic
3/15/2018 11:33:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Ladyjacks compete in final regular-season tournament of the 2017-18 season, take on large 32-team field consisting of 20 top-25 teams
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Having competed in eight regular-season events to this point in 2017-18, the Stephen F. Austin bowling team will take on their ninth and final tournament of the regular season this weekend at the 14th Annual Columbia 300 Music City Classic. The Ladyjacks are one of 32 teams who will take to the lanes of the Smyrna Bowling Center in Smyrna, Tennessee, Friday-Sunday, March 16-18, for the highly-competitive event hosted by Southland Bowling League counterpart Vanderbilt.
Ranked sixth in the nation according to the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) top-25 poll, SFA is one of 20 nationally-ranked teams competing at the 2018 Columbia 300 Music City Classic. The large tournament field includes fellow Southland Bowling League competitors Arkansas State, host Vanderbilt, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State, Tulane and Monmouth.
The three-day event will get underway Friday, March 16 with five Baker matches beginning at 9:40 a.m. On Saturday, March 17, teams will bowl five traditional team games starting at 9:30 a.m. before bracket play concludes the tournament Sunday, March 18. Bracket play will begin at 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning with three best 4-of-7 Baker matches. Seeding for bracket play will be determined by teams' pinfall total from the first two days of competition.
The Ladyjacks will take on a trio of top-25 teams in their first day of play. SFA faces second-ranked McKendree University, No. 23 Lincoln Memorial University, Grambling State, No. 12 Sacred Heart and Monmouth in Baker matches Friday, March 16. On Saturday, the Ladyjacks will bowl against two nationally-ranked teams as SFA wraps up pool play with traditional team matches against North Central College, 15th-ranked Central Missouri, No. 8 Maryland Eastern Shore, Belmont Abbey and Felician.
SFA will be bowling in its seventh Columbia 300 Music City Classic and has posted a fourth-place finish in each of its last two appearances at the annual tournament. At the 2017 version of the event the Ladyjacks fell to Sacred Heart 4-2 in the third-place game, tying their best finish at the tournament by placing fourth among 35 total teams.
Last weekend, SFA qualified to compete for the Kerm Helmer Cup at the 2018 Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) after a strong performance at the United States Bowling Congress' (USBC) ITC sectional qualifier in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The Ladyjacks finished third at the ITC sectional with a pinfall total of 13,055 in 64 Baker games to become one of 16 women's teams who will travel to Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska, Thursday-Saturday, April 19-21 in hopes of claiming the coveted title at the USBC collegiate season's pinnacle event.
For the third consecutive year senior Stephanie Schwartz (Racine, Wis.) qualified for the 2018 Intercollegiate Singles Championships (ISC) at the ISC sectional qualifier in Fairview Heights. Her first-place finish at the event gives her the opportunity to claim an individual national title among a field of 24 bowlers at the ISC, also held at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17-18. Schwartz finished atop of the 168-person field, averaging a 242.17 score in six games bowled and tallying 1,453 total pins. She came just one pin shy of a perfect game in the sixth game of the qualifier, bowling to the tune of 299.
SFA's play at the 2018 Columbia 300 Music City Classic can be viewed live via Ladyjack bowling's Facebook page here.
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will turn their attention to postseason action following this weekend's tournament as the Southland Bowling League Championship awaits SFA next weekend, Friday-Sunday, March 23-25, at USA Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack bowling throughout this winter and spring.
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Bowling
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