LOWELL – Head coach Ashley Gravel and her young Craftsbury Academy (CA) bowling team earned their first match win of the season at League Championships at Missisquoi Lanes two weeks ago.
Gravel and assistant coach Will Patnoe have been grooming their large, yet inexperienced team made up of mostly sophomores all season long and finally broke through against White River Valley in Lowell. Arwen Alexander rolled a career best 144 in the program’s first match win of the season. Cyrus Graham wasn’t far behind with a 143, also a personal record. Parker Holcomb complimented a solid team effort with a 137 and Kosmos Glestos came in at 120. The Chargers placed third overall behind Randolph and tournament winner St. Johnsbury Academy. In Bakers, CA took the Hilltoppers to the wire in the first game before coming up short in the final frame. Gravel was an assistant under Connor Bean in the program’s inaugural season three years ago, taking over the reins the last two seasons. Bean is now the athletic director at Bellows Falls and the director of High School Bowling for the Vermont Principals Association. The Chargers have had several highly-rated state bowlers in their first two seasons, including Patnoe, Matt Wilcox, Jacob Marquis and Jason Brown. Participation and enthusiasm have been off the charts for the CA bowling program this winter, but Gravel is starting all over again with little to no varsity match experience on the team. She says she loves the growing numbers of her team however and sees nothing but arrows pointing up for the future of the Charger program.
“It was a great day winning our first match of the season! Everyone was really excited, and this group of kids are so fun to coach. We gained 104 pins as a team, Arwen had a career day, and everyone did amazing. Will did a great job coaching and mentoring this team all season and the program is so lucky to have him. Watching this team compete at the end of the season really showed their progress and all the hard work that went into it. This is a great group of kids, and I can’t wait to have them all back next season and continue to watch them improve,” said Gravel.
Gravel, Patnoe, and their Chargers team officially wrap up their season at states on Saturday in Colchester.
