News Archive
Season Starts Tuesday for Girls Bowling Team
TEAM PREVIEW: The 2018-2019 Lady Eagles will be without last season’s ECC Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, yet the future is bright for a young but experienced team.
James Ficklin takes over as head coach for boys and girls bowling from Frank Ritzmann, who had been at the helm of the MHS bowling teams since the inception of the program in 2004. An avid bowler for over 50 years, Ficklin comes to Milford after spending the last twelve seasons as the head coach at Walnut Hills High School, and will be joined by new assistant coach Butch Taylor.
The Eagles lost Jessica Haines, the 2018 Player of the Year who leaves big shoes to fill. She left Milford holding the record for the girls two-game series at 490, a record she set in the 2017 season. Milford will also be without Mackenzie Mason, who set a new school record for single high game in a match, 289, to break the previous record of 269 set by Haines in 2017.
However, three members of the 2017-2018 ECC Champions return for the new season; Reagan Hodges, Reaghan Kaylor, and Jessica Norman. All three were members of a team that made history last year, finishing with a perfect 19-0 record and as sole conference champions of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. They also ended the season ranked sixth in the Cincinnati Enquirer area coaches’ poll, and for the second consecutive year were Sectional tournament runners-up at the OHSAA Division I Bowling Sectional Tournament.
Senior Jessica Norman will enter her fourth year as a member of the varsity squad. In 2018-2019, she ended the season fourth for both high game (241) and high series (431), and was ninth for overall average (160.7) in the ECC. Norman received first team All-ECC recognition for the second consecutive year; she received honorable mention recognition her freshman season.
Kaylor made an impact in her freshman season, ending the season ranked seventh for high game (233) and eighth for series high (406). In addition, her 146.7 overall average ranked eighteenth in the ECC. She was named second team All-ECC in her first year on the MHS bowling team.
Also in her first year on the team, Hodges received honorable mention recognition. The junior’s high game of 215 ranked eleventh in the league, and she was eighteenth in overall average (146.7).
Girls Roster: Joining Hodges, Kaylor and Norman on the varsity roster are senior Samantha Miller, junior Clarissa Kester and sophomore Fallon Austin.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Lady Eagles open the season with McNicholas prior to the Thanksgiving break. The match will be held at Cherry Grove Lanes, the home lanes of both the Eagles and the Rockets. The action is slated for a 3:45 pm start.
POLL WATCH: The Cincinnati Enquirer area coaches’ preseason poll for Division I girls bowling has been released, and the Milford girls team enters the season at fifth. Fairfield begins the year as the top ranked team followed by Seton. Mercy McAuley and the ECC’s West Clermont are tied for third. Following Milford to round out the top ten; Northwest, Franklin, Oak Hills, Lebanon, and Ross. Loveland (3), Kings (2), and Turpin (1) received votes in the preseason poll, which can be found at http://preps.cincinnati.com/coachespolls.
