By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Boone County junior Kara Strong placed second in the girls’ singles championships at the state high school bowling tournament on Thursday at Collins Eastland Lanes in Lexington.
Strong was seeded fourth after the qualifying rounds and upset the two bowlers seeded ahead of her in the single-elimination bracket to reach the championship final. But top-seeded Breanna Elkin of Louisville Mercy defeated Strong, 227-173, to take the state title.
Taylor Evans of Boone County finished sixth in the girls’ singles standings. The other local bowlers in the competition were Katelyn Schneider of Highlands (20th), Alecia Radford of Notre Dame (24th), Sierra Brandt of Cooper (25th), Amanda Connell of Scott (26th), Mirena Combs of Newport (28th) and Savannah Corwin of Simon Kenton (30th).
In the boys’ singles competition, P.J. Rump of Beechwood made it to the single-elimination bracket and finished fourth. Ben Flora of Louisville St. Xavier won the boys’ singles state title.
The other local bowlers who received awards for finishing among the top eight were Hunter Kolb of Highlands (6th) and Gary Tipton of Dayton (8th). The final standings also included Johnathan Cummins of Simon Kenton (11th), Cameron Bethtold of Campbell County (14th), Andrew Blood of Cooper (16th), Adam Zimmerman of Covington Catholic (19th) and Nathan Hopper of Dixie Heights (21st).
Northern Kentucky also had a state-runner-up in the Unified Team competition. Teams consisting of one bowler with intellectual or physical disabilities and a partner without disabilities participated in a doubles bracket with Parker Thomas and Maddie Shelton of Highlands placing second.
The state bowling tournament will resume on Friday with team competition. Qualifying rounds will determine seeds for a 16-team single-elimination bracket in both boys and girls. Teams will then compete in matches leading up to the championship finals.
The Northern Kentucky teams that qualified to compete in the state tournament are Covington Catholic, Beechwood, Campbell County and Brossart in boys along with Boone County, Notre Dame, Simon Kenton and Highlands in girls.