CCSJ Women's Bowling wins Storm Baker Challenge for third consecutive year
The Crimson Wave handled St. Francis in the semifinal and beat Judson in the championship round to win the 19th Annual Storm Baker Challenge on Sunday, January 11.
Addison, IL – The Calumet College of St. Joseph women's bowling team returned to Addison for the 19th Annual Storm Baker Challenge on Saturday, January 10. Winners the past two years, the Crimson Wave were looking to hold the first-place trophy for the third consecutive season.
The two-day event consisted of 40 qualifying baker games, bowled on both Saturday and Sunday. By the end of the day Saturday, the field played six sets of games and the Crimson Wave sat atop the standings. CCSJ finished Day 1 with an overall total of 4275, at least 50 points above anyone else.
After the four sets of games on Sunday, the Crimson Wave qualified for second place with an overall score of 6899, trailing Judson by 260 points. With only four varsity teams moving on to the best-of-5 bracket play, CCSJ would need to win just two rounds to hoist the first-place plaque once again.
In the semifinals, it went the distance as the Crimson Wave were able to beat St. Francis 3-2 to move on to the finals. In the championship round, CCSJ had its toughest test, facing the #1-ranked NAIA team in Judson. The Crimson Wave were able to overcome the challenge, beat Judson 3-1 and win the Storm Baker Challenge for the third year in a row!
Thrilled to see the team accomplishing this feat, women's head bowling coach Linda Olszewski said it required a complete team effort.
"The tournament was 40 baker games and it's always a great warm up heading into the post season," Olszewski said. "It was a total team effort, especially since the oil patterns were quite challenging. I'm so proud of our bowlers because they adapted and performed very well under pressure."
Two seasons ago, CCSJ also had a JV team that took first-place honors. Without a JV team last year, the Crimson Wave were able to construct a JV team to compete this season. They finished in fourth place after the baker games were played.
Up Next
CCSJ will be back in Addison, IL on Saturday, January 17 to compete in the Kegel Midwest.
