ADDISON, Ill.--The nationally 20th-ranked Adrian College women's bowling team kicked off 2016 by shining in its first United States Bowling Congress-sanctioned Tier I event at the Kegel/ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic here at Stardust Bowl over the weekend.

Adrian had a grand pin total of 8,262 for 14th place out of 51 teams--its best finish at the tournament where the Bulldogs' previous high was 25th.

"Overall, the women's team keeps improving and we are well on our way to doing something great this season," first-year Bulldogs coach John Essenmacher III said. "We continue to finish up top in the big tournaments and you can't ask for much more."

Leading the way was sophomore Jennifer Kell who shot a 990 over five games, averaging 198 forth 26th in the individual standings. Classmate Noelle Scheuer didn't finish far behind by ending up in 38th with a 977 over five games, or a 195.4 average.

Those were impressive individual finishes considering the fact that 331 female bowlers competed in the tournament.

Next up is the Buckeye Baker Classic in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday and Sunday.

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