Lawrence High senior bowlers Cameron Stussie, left, and Morgan Daniels will join LHS bowlers in kicking off the season Friday at Royal Crest Lanes.

With a strong mix of returners and newcomers, Lawrence High bowling coach Paula Bastemeyer is excited to see how her team performs.

If the first few weeks of practice were any indication, the Lions look ready to put up high scores. They will open the season Tuesday in the Topeka Seaman quadrangular.

One of the biggest changes this season is the addition of baker-style bowling during regional and state tournaments. The baker format is when five teammates alternate bowling toward one score. In the past, it was only used during the season-opening Free State Invitational, which was postponed this weekend because of weather.

“I think everyone is excited about that,” Bastemeyer said. “It just becomes such a team thing. Everyone is cheering for every ball that everyone throws.”

For the LHS girls bowling team, the Lions will have plenty of experience from varsity returners Morgan Daniels, Holly Evans, Hannah Reed and Diamonique Vann. Evans placed fifth at the Class 6A state tournament last year.

Along with the returners, the Lions are hoping for a strong season from sophomore Ashley Dykes.

“I told the kids in our team meeting, I was very disappointed last year that we didn’t make it out of regionals,” Bastemeyer said. “We were fourth in boys and girls. I told them, ‘I’m not going to be that disappointed this year. We’re making it out of regionals.’ We’ve got the talent.”

The LHS boys bowling squad will be led by returners Hunter Krom, Javier Lemmons and Cameron Stussie. Lemmons finished fourth at the state tournament last season and Bastemeyer said Stussie rolled an 804 three-game series in practice, including a perfect 300 game.

“When I sit here and see their practice averages, we’ve got guys in the 200s and girls in the 190s,” Bastemeyer said. “Those are averages that can compete. Those are averages that can go out in our league and not have any problems. Every coach talks about it, a lot of it is just the mental game.”

Free State

It will be a year of change for Free State High’s bowling teams, featuring plenty of newcomers to the varsity level and several underclassmen.

Free State High bowlers Alex Craig, sr. and Sydney Jordan, soph., will join Firebird bowlers in kicking off the season Friday at Royal Crest Lanes.

The Firebirds will start the season at the FSHS quadrangular Tuesday, which begins at 3 p.m. at Royal Crest Lanes.

After graduating 10 seniors (six boys and four girls), the Firebirds will look to a lot of bowlers to fill bigger roles on the team.

For the boys, Free State will return Alex Craig, Cameron Edens, Alex Jimenez and Bayn Schrader. None of them qualified for the state tournament last year, but Jimenez was one of the top bowlers in the Sunflower League by rolling a 220-game average.

“I’m excited that we have a good group of seniors that are going to continue to lead our guys throughout the year,” FSHS coach Burton Gepford said. “At the same time, I’m excited about the younger ones kind of getting their feet wet and getting equipped for the future.”

Free State’s girls bowling team, which only has eight players this season, returns Sapphie Knight, Sydney Jordan and Morgan Wright. Jordan posted a 151 average last year and Wright posted a 150.

“We have a lot of newcomers,” Gepford said. “On the ladies’ side, most of them are freshmen and sophomores.”