HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Junior right-hander Madelyn Weston (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) finished among the Top 10 individuals as Felician University ended up in seventh place at the Hawk Flight Invite NCAA women's bowling tournament, hosted by Monmouth University on Friday through Sunday at Hamilton Lanes.
The 12-team event began on Friday with five 5-game Baker matches, followed by five traditional team matches on Saturday, with pairings determined by random draw. Sunday morning's competition began with a sixth traditional match. The schools were then seeded into a playoff bracket based on total pinfall for two best-of-7 Baker playoff matches, which determined the final standings.
Felician averaged 176.7 per game for the tournament, which broke down to 178.7 during traditional play and 175.0 during Baker action. The individual standings were determined by the six Baker matches, and Weston was the top Golden Falcon for the first time in her career. She totaled 1,153 pins for an average of 192.2, including a high game of 222 during Felician's third match on Saturday, a victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) University. Freshman Sandra Hornor (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) shot 1,125 for the six matches, an average of 187.5 with a high game of 222, and placed 18th. There were 78 individuals who started at least one traditional match.
For the second consecutive weekend, Felician posted a 6-7 dual match record. The Golden Falcons went 2-3 during their 5-game Baker matches on Friday, including shooting a 1032 (206.4 average), the second-best 5-game Baker score in program history, during a victory over St. Francis College-Brooklyn.
Felician won its last match on Saturday and its first one on Sunday to salvage a 3-3 record in traditional play, and was the No. 8 seed for the playoff bracket. There, they dropped a 4-1 decision to Caldwell University before rebounding to defeat Molloy College, 4-1, in the seventh-place match.
No. 17 nationally-ranked Long Island University defeated Wilmington (Del.) University, 4-1, in Sunday's championship match to capture the tournament title. Wilmington enjoyed the best won-lost record for the weekend, at 11-2.
Felician (48-59) saw its record fall to 29-31 during the spring semester. After competing for five consecutive weekends, the Golden Falcons are idle for the next two before concluding their regular season at the Northeast Roundup, to be co-hosted by Wilmington and Fairleigh Dickinson University, from March 19-20 in New Castle, Del.
