Leon County was represented by boys’ and girls’ bowling teams at the FHSAA District 1 tournament on Oct. 19 at Capital Lanes in Tallahassee. Lincoln finished second overall in the boys’ team standings to secure the team berth to states, while Ridgeview High School of Orange Park captured the championship. Rickards also advanced three bowlers to the state tournament individually, including two boys and one girl.
Ridgeview claimed the district title with a three-game total of 3,198 pins, well clear of Lincoln’s 2,951. But it was the Trojans who delivered the meet’s most consequential moment, rallying past Rickards in the Baker bracket to claim the runner-up position — and with it, a trip to the state tournament — before falling to Ridgeview in the championship match.
After beating Rickards in the first round of the winners bracket with a score of three games to two, The Trojans met back up with the Raiders in the Consolation Bracket in a loser goes home situation. Lincoln started off strong winning the first game 224-205 while Rickards came back in the second game winning 225-182. The match came down to the fifth game with Lincoln posting a score of 201 over Rickards’ 166 securing the state bid and advancing to the finals where they would lose to Ridgeview 3-0.
The Rickards girls’ team was the only Leon County team to advance to bracket play. The Raiders fell to Columbia in a close winners-bracket matchup, with the outcome decided in the final game, 154-151. Rickards then faced Fort White in the consolation bracket, where another tight contest came down to the fifth game, with the Raiders falling 135-131.
Leon County’s top performers
Lincoln’s Caleb Moore led all Leon County bowlers, placing second individually with a 648 series on games of 195, 218 and 235. Teammates Kale Hurd (618, eighth) and Dylan Fell (611, ninth) also cracked the top 10, while Hunter Mortham added a 14th-place 577 to round out a balanced Lincoln lineup.
Rickards carried the banner for the district’s individual qualifiers. John Nance placed fourth with a 633 series with games of 237, 227 and 169 and Jayden Peterson finished fifth at 629, games of 221, 256 and 152. With Rickards missing a team berth, both advanced to the state tournament on the strength of their individual scores.
Girls: Lee, Lastinger lead the way
Grace Lee of Rickards gave the Raiders a third state qualifier, placing fourth in the girls individual standings with a 525 series on games of 161, 174 and 190. Her finish stood as the top Leon County performance in the girls field.
Chrissy Lastinger of Lincoln was right behind in fifth at 522, and her opening-game 235 was the highest single game rolled by any girl in the tournament. Kaylee Jeon of Rickards finished 12th at 442, while Mikia Hawkins (386) paced Godby and Abigail Cherry (346) led Chiles.
Jenna Boltin of Columbia took girls medalist honors with a 571 series.
No other Leon County team advances
No other Leon County program was able to punch a team ticket in either division.
The Rickards girls posted the best Leon County finish, placing fourth at 1,989 pins. Lincoln finished fifth at 1,882, Godby ninth at 1,335, Chiles 10th at 967 and Leon 11th. Columbia won the girls team title with 2,269 pins, followed by Ridgeview at 2,128.
In the boys division, Ridgeview and Lincoln were the only teams to crack 2,900 pins, leaving Chiles (fourth, 2,844) just outside the state picture. Leon placed seventh at 1,966 and Godby eighth at 1,324.
Cameron Morton of Ridgeview took boys individual medalist honors with a 737 series, posting games of 226, 244 and 267 to finish comfortably ahead of the field.
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