February 27, 2019 at 12:12 p.m.
Bourciers gear up for another run at state bowling title
Bourciers gear up for another run at state bowling title
This year, Bourcier hopes to use the same philosophy with the Hodags' most recent state qualifier - his daughter.
Sophomore Mackenzie Bourcier is one of 60 bowlers in the field for the WiHSBC girls' singles state tournament that will get underway tomorrow night in Green Bay. She will be vying for one of 15 spots in Saturday's semifinals, and one of five spots in Sunday's stepladder finals.
Though it is the younger Bourcier's first trip to the high school state meet, she was the runner-up at the middle school state meet two years ago as an eighth grader. That experience, coupled with Bloomquist's nearly wire-to-wire win in last year's boys' singles tournament, has Mike Bourcier thinking big.
"She has a chance to win. She definitely has a good chance to win against these girls," Bourcier said. "She's just as good as the rest of them. It comes down to who can stay in the moment, who can keep their mental game focused and just keep their mechanics good."
Mackenzie is a little more low-key about her expectations. "As long as I try my best and do my best, then what ever the outcome is, is good," she said. But she said she learned from Bloomquist, who now bowls collegiately at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The key, she said, is learning from mistakes instead of dwelling on them.
"Me and Darin have both worked on that, knowing that you can't sit on one ball. After it's thrown, it's done. You can't change it. Just move on," she said.
Bourcier needed to stay in the moment down the stretch during the WiHSBC District 9 season. Entering the final tournament of the regular season, she sat in the district's fourth and final state qualifying position. She delivered during a two-dual meet Feb. 9 at 5-Star Lanes in Plover, filling 22 of the 28 frames she bowled to raise her season-long fill percentage to 73.5 percent. That was enough to hold on to fourth place over Antigo's Ashlea Kreuger by 1.5 percent - the difference of three strikes or spares during the course of the entire regular season.
The young bowler also said she leaned on sophomore teammate Katrina Blasius, who finished seventh in the District 9 standings (70.5 percent), to help her stay in the moment. Blasius referenced Bloomquist's junior year when he fell out of state contention due to a bad final week of the regular season.
"In the beginning, I was somewhat psyching myself out and distracting myself," Mackenzie Bourcier explained. "Then Katrina, one of my teammates, was like, 'You know that's how Darin got himself out of state and you've done it before too. Just stop paying attention (to the scores) and bowl, and have fun.'"
After finishing 10th in the district as a freshman, Bourcier leapt six spots in the standings this year, which she credits in part to extra devotion to the game.
"I was dancing in between bowling and was putting that as more of priority last year," she explained. "So I was missing a lot of practices. When I was at practice, I was sore from dance and having knee and ankle trouble. I wasn't bowling as good. I cut back on my dance so I'm not in as much pain and I'm able to be here more to practice, which really set me up to be stronger and be able to bowl better."
"She's getting her timing a little better. She's picked up the ball speed," Mike Bourcier added. "Last year it was 12-13 MPH her ball speed. This year she's between 13-14 MPH. That one extra MPH in speed creates a little more power down the lane ... She's lifting the ball a little harder. Everything's going hand-and-hand, therefore it's generating more energy at the pins."
The Rhinelander/Elcho bowling team has a bit of an interesting dynamic given that two team members have fathers on the coaching staff. On meet day, Mike Bourcier usually focuses on the boys' team while Kevin Litzen, whose son Kody is on the boys' team, works with the girls' squad. At times its a move of necessity with the teams bowling simultaneously on different ends of a bowling center during district meets.
Mike Bourcier said he and Kevin Litzen see a number of the same things in each player's game but, the advice resonates differently depending on who's doing the talking.
"Sometimes it's easier to listen when you haven't heard it 1,000 times and it's a different voice," Mackenzie Bourcier said.
Last Friday night at practice, however, it was just the Bourciers working together at Hodag Lanes. Having received the oil pattern that will be used for this weekend's state meet a day earlier, the Bourciers had the alley apply the pattern to a set of lanes.
"It's a 40-foot pattern that's going to be a little tough but isn't super hard," Mike Bourcier said of the Beaten Path pattern that will be used this weekend. "We'll start with her starting points and starting balls. From there, we'll make some adjustments and moves. She'll be able to play the game she's pretty much been playing. It's just going to come down on what the carry is on the lanes you bowl on and making those spares."
There is not a ton of experience in this year's field of bowlers at state. Of the 60 state qualifiers, only 18 were in last year's field. Only five of last year's semifinalists return. Among those are state runner-up Brooklyn Komorowski of Oshkosh North, who lost in the championship match last year, and Haylee Schwark of Beaver Dam who finished third.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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