The athletes and partners of the first Blair High School Unified bowling team arrived at Bowlero in Elkhorn on Monday wanting to best the Antlers.
“We're just here to have fun,” said coach Monica Maly. “That's what I reminded them.”
If the Bears were to go for the win, though, how could they?
“It's about total pin falls. Every pin that we knock down counts,” Maly explained. “That's what I told them, but, ultimately, we're here to have fun — no strings attached.”
BHS did come out victorious, however, in its second-ever Unified bowling competition. The team, which includes students with and without intellectual disabilities working together, totaled a score of 1,078. The result was 11 better than Elkhorn, while Raymond Central was third with a 1,060 and Elkhorn North finished fourth with a 1,038 total.
The Bears' first competition of the brand new season, however, was Nov. 14 at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln.
“It was a learning curve,” Maly said.
Blair arrived at the Eastern Midlands Conference event with just one practice under its belt.
“Bennington was so gracious to help us out,” the coach noted.
Maly's team ultimately took sixth during the event, finishing with a six-game total of 626 pins.
Monday, though, was a little bit different with more participants. Five BHS teams of five competed at Bowlero. Three partners joined two athletes on each squad.
“That's a lot of kids to get bowling shoes, get jerseys on and all of the things,” Maly said before the start. “But, feeling great. They're so excited.”
The athletes and partners each bowled toward their totals with the partners sometimes helping athletes use ramps to complete their turns. Together, they celebrated strikes and spares and lamented the occasional gutter ball when appropriate.
In the end, the Bears finished the quadrangular on top. Before it started, Maly noted how memorable the bus ride to Elkhorn was.
“It was lots of giggles,” she said.
It's likely not hard to imagine what all of the drives home were like after so many pins fell.
