Trio of Robert Morris-Illinois bowlers focused on Intercollegiate Singles
April 16, 2019
Robert Morris-Illinois teammates Logan Williams, Daniel Hanson and Bryan Bourget are competing in the Intercollegiate Singles Championships.
RESULTS
DAYTON, Ohio – Members of the Robert Morris-Illinois men’s bowling team knew they had the pieces in place to have a great season in 2018-2019.
The senior-laden team rolled during the year, but instead of having eight members competing for a national team title at Poelking Lanes South this week, only Bryan Bourget, Daniel Hanson and Logan Williams will have the opportunity to bring home a national title.
The trio are in the field for the Intercollegiate Singles Championships, which started Tuesday morning with a six-game qualifying round. The ISC features 24 men and 24 women who earned their spots in the field by qualifying through one of four sectional events held throughout the country in March.
The six qualifying games determined seeding for the single-elimination match-play bracket. Bourget finished fourth to be one of the eight bowlers to earn a first-round bye while Hanson was 11th and Williams was 16th. Both Hanson and Williams won their first-round matches on Tuesday afternoon.
Averi Brown of Arkansas State finished with a 289 game to lead the women’s qualifying.
The opening round of bracket matches took place on Tuesday and will continue Wednesday to determine who advances to the televised finals. All bracket matches consist of three games, with total pinfall determining the winner.
BowlTV.com is providing live coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds leading up to the finals, which will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Robert Morris-Illinois lost in last season’s title match of the Intercollegiate Team Championships but came back this season determined to make another run. It was the top-ranked team heading into sectionals but finished fifth at the ITC sectional in Addison, Illinois, in March, missing the final qualifying spot by 51 pins.
“It seems there’s always one team ranked at the top that misses out on the final tournament of the year,” Bourget said. “It just so happens that this year, it was us.”
That means the torch for the Robert Morris-Illinois team now is carried by the three players in the ISC field. If one should win, it would make it back-to-back singles titles for the school after Kenny Ryan took home the title in 2018.
Hanson already has an ISC title for Robert Morris-Illinois, winning it as a freshman in 2016. He said during Monday’s practice session that he’s still trying to come to terms with the fact the team did not make the ITC field.
“Losing Kenny (Ryan) hurt a lot, but being No. 1 in the country, winning the Hoosier, and having it end all of a sudden .. I still can’t put it into words, we’re just stunned still,” Hanson said. “But we have to go out here and do what we have to do.”
Williams also struggled to find the right words to describe how it felt to have the team’s season end prematurely.
“You put in all the work all year, you’ve had the success throughout the year, and to fall short – especially after last year … we were so close last year,” Williams said. “The other eight months don’t matter if you do not make it here. Doesn’t matter might sound pretty harsh, but you are working to get here.”
While it has been difficult to push forward, all three Robert Morris-Illinois players said the goal is to bring home a national title to Robert Morris-Illinois.
“If one person wins, we all win,” Bourget said. “We’ve talked about it multiple times. Dan actually won singles his freshman year. We made (ISC) nationals our freshman year, but were knocked out so we rallied around him and he won for our program.”
Visit BOWL.com/ISC for more information on the Intercollegiate Singles Championships.
The Intercollegiate Team Championships start Thursday. The 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams will bowl 24 Baker games to determine seeding for the double-elimination match-play bracket. Bracket play will run Thursday and Friday to determine the teams that will meet for national titles.
The finals for both the ISC and ITC will take place Saturday and will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
BowlTV.com will have live coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds of the ISC and ITC leading up to the finals.
RESULTS
DAYTON, Ohio – Members of the Robert Morris-Illinois men’s bowling team knew they had the pieces in place to have a great season in 2018-2019.
The senior-laden team rolled during the year, but instead of having eight members competing for a national team title at Poelking Lanes South this week, only Bryan Bourget, Daniel Hanson and Logan Williams will have the opportunity to bring home a national title.
The trio are in the field for the Intercollegiate Singles Championships, which started Tuesday morning with a six-game qualifying round. The ISC features 24 men and 24 women who earned their spots in the field by qualifying through one of four sectional events held throughout the country in March.
The six qualifying games determined seeding for the single-elimination match-play bracket. Bourget finished fourth to be one of the eight bowlers to earn a first-round bye while Hanson was 11th and Williams was 16th. Both Hanson and Williams won their first-round matches on Tuesday afternoon.
Averi Brown of Arkansas State finished with a 289 game to lead the women’s qualifying.
The opening round of bracket matches took place on Tuesday and will continue Wednesday to determine who advances to the televised finals. All bracket matches consist of three games, with total pinfall determining the winner.
BowlTV.com is providing live coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds leading up to the finals, which will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Robert Morris-Illinois lost in last season’s title match of the Intercollegiate Team Championships but came back this season determined to make another run. It was the top-ranked team heading into sectionals but finished fifth at the ITC sectional in Addison, Illinois, in March, missing the final qualifying spot by 51 pins.
“It seems there’s always one team ranked at the top that misses out on the final tournament of the year,” Bourget said. “It just so happens that this year, it was us.”
That means the torch for the Robert Morris-Illinois team now is carried by the three players in the ISC field. If one should win, it would make it back-to-back singles titles for the school after Kenny Ryan took home the title in 2018.
Hanson already has an ISC title for Robert Morris-Illinois, winning it as a freshman in 2016. He said during Monday’s practice session that he’s still trying to come to terms with the fact the team did not make the ITC field.
“Losing Kenny (Ryan) hurt a lot, but being No. 1 in the country, winning the Hoosier, and having it end all of a sudden .. I still can’t put it into words, we’re just stunned still,” Hanson said. “But we have to go out here and do what we have to do.”
Williams also struggled to find the right words to describe how it felt to have the team’s season end prematurely.
“You put in all the work all year, you’ve had the success throughout the year, and to fall short – especially after last year … we were so close last year,” Williams said. “The other eight months don’t matter if you do not make it here. Doesn’t matter might sound pretty harsh, but you are working to get here.”
While it has been difficult to push forward, all three Robert Morris-Illinois players said the goal is to bring home a national title to Robert Morris-Illinois.
“If one person wins, we all win,” Bourget said. “We’ve talked about it multiple times. Dan actually won singles his freshman year. We made (ISC) nationals our freshman year, but were knocked out so we rallied around him and he won for our program.”
Visit BOWL.com/ISC for more information on the Intercollegiate Singles Championships.
The Intercollegiate Team Championships start Thursday. The 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams will bowl 24 Baker games to determine seeding for the double-elimination match-play bracket. Bracket play will run Thursday and Friday to determine the teams that will meet for national titles.
The finals for both the ISC and ITC will take place Saturday and will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
BowlTV.com will have live coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds of the ISC and ITC leading up to the finals.