Senior Standouts Rally & Reign in D1

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

March 7, 2020

ALLEN PARK – Denny O’Neill described Cheyenne Washington as a four-year stalwart in the Lake Orion program, coachable and a leader.

He could now describe her as a champion as she rallied from a 19-pin deficit against Lauren Slagter of Jenison to claim the Division 1 Finals singles title Saturday at Thunderbowl Lanes, 392-353.

Slagter opened in the second, fifth and seventh frames to open the door for the Dragons’ senior.

“I just wanted to keep making good shots and have fun,’’ said Washington. “It really didn’t matter about the score. Instead of playing in, like the girls were playing, I had to play outside. I had to change balls because the boys pushed the oil to the outside, but that’s the line I like playing. It’s a great feeling.’’ 

“She’s my team captain this year, and she has great family support,’’ O’Neill said. “She has been a pleasure to coach – very trainable and she listens.’’

Slagter advanced to the final by beating Carrington Beaman of Farmington, 483-385, while Washington eliminated Anna Maxwell of Westland John Glenn, 418-351.

In the boys division, Utica Eisenhower’s Dylan Kelley was trying to add a singles title to his team’s championship on Friday. Standing in his way was smooth lefty Izaac Goergen of Midland. Splits on Lane 5 had Goergen searching for an adjustment. He found it and claimed the title against Kelley, who couldn’t find the pocket.

“I had been throwing urethane all day, the purple Hammer, and we noticed the shot was tighter,’’ said Goergen. “With the girls pushing the oil inside, I had to change balls. I went to my pearl Idol, and it made all the difference. I guess it worked.’’

The Macomb Area Conference bowlers dominated the top spots in both divisions as junior Dani Decruydt of St. Clair Shores Lakeshore was the top qualifier in the girls division at 1,268. Second was Samantha Mason of Sterling Heights (1,267), and third was Allyson Sand of Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (1,262).

Decruydt made a quick exit as the top seed as she was knocked out by 16th seed Kayla Mazure of L’Anse Creuse North (389-382). Mazure advanced to face Washington, who eliminated Noelle Phillips of Traverse City West, 459-417.

Second seed Mason was knocked out by the 15th seed, freshman Angelita Rodriguez of Wyandotte Roosevelt, 372-332. Rodriguez moved on to face Beaman, who had defeated Evelyn Cano of Flushing, 391-380. Beaman overcame some thumb issues and dispatched Rodriguez to advance to the semifinals.

The top remaining seed was Sand, who downed of Carmen Corona of Warren Cousino, 448-336.

Jenison also had two bowlers make it to the round of eight as Anna Bartz beat Ondrea Ream of Traverse Central 403-315 and Slagter knocked out Katherine Dybicki of Belleville, 421-378.

LCN’s Sand and Mazure lost in the round of eight; Sand to Jenison’s Slagter, 472-373, and Mazure to Washington 341-329. Jenison’s Bartz was eliminated by Maxwell, 380-326.

In the boys division sophomore Carter Milasinovich of Utica Eisenhower was the top marksman at 1,395 followed by Noah Samuels of Salem (1,377) and Goergen of Midland (1,365).

The upsets in the boys division started early as well as Samuels lost to sophomore Ben Augustitus of St. Clair Shores Lakeshore (446-393). Salem teammate Jon Hall also lost to a sophomore, Justin Strait of Grand Haven (436-378). That ended the weekend for Salem, which finished runner-up in the Team Final on Friday.

Strait ended Augustitus’ day in the quarterfinal, 409-355, to advance to the semis.

Eisenhower’s Milasinovich also didn’t last long, as he was beaten in the first round of match play by Matt Buck of Rockford (437-373). However, teammate Kelley advanced to the quarterfinal round, opening match play with a win over Julihanni Alcini of Roseville.

Marco Ramirez of Brownstown Woodhaven advance to the semifinals by beating Buck, 484-378 while Goergen bettered Davison’s Brendan Ashley, 428-380. He then faced Kelley, who had beaten David Schaberg of Holt, 474-386. 

Click for full girls results and boys results.

Gift of Bowling Keeps Giving as Eisenhower's Harnden Pursues Championship Repeat

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

January 30, 2025

Birthday parties usually feature the best gifts for the person celebrating the birthday. But in this case, the best gift might have ended up going to one of the party’s attendees. 

Greater DetroitBack when he was in fifth grade, current Utica Eisenhower senior bowler Dylan Harnden was invited to a birthday party at Shelby Lanes in Shelby Township by friend and current Eisenhower bowling teammate Kingston Corpuz.

That day, they celebrated Corpuz – and Harnden received the gift of being introduced to bowling. 

“That was his first time bowling, and he basically got the bug that he wanted to bowl,” he said Dylan’s father and current Eisenhower coach Mark Harnden. “From that point forward, he just kind of wanted to get better and better.”

The last couple of years, it can be argued that there’s been no better high schooler in the state.

Last year as a junior, Harnden captured the Division 1 Singles Finals title after also winning his Regional. Naturally, he was named to the all-state Dream Team by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association.

This season, Harnden completed a unique career trifecta by winning the individual title at the Macomb County championship. 

“I can say that I’ve won that tournament along with other great Macomb bowlers who have won that tournament,” he said. “It was great to see myself winning it.”

In addition, Harnden is sporting a 222 average — one pin below his average last year — and has scholarship offers in tow from two prestigious college bowling programs, St. Ambrose University in Iowa and Trine University in Indiana. 

Not bad for someone who didn’t know anything about the sport until that birthday party invite roughly seven years ago.

“It only took me maybe about a half year to a year to get the hang of everything and get really good,” Harnden said. “It was interesting at first.”

In addition to winning the state title last season, Harnden as a sophomore in 2023 finished first out of the qualifying block at the Division 1 Final but ended up falling to eventual champion Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott in the quarterfinal round. 

This year, Harnden’s big objective has been continuing to master mental aspects of the game. 

“A lot of things this year compared to last year is the same stuff, except for trying to expand my knowledge,” he said. “Knowing how to transition better, knowing what balls to go to and trying to hit different shots. Just expanding knowledge mainly from last year to this year just so if I encounter new scenarios, I can use it better.”

Mark Harnden said Dylan when he was younger tried a one-handed bowling style, but quickly discovered that going with the two-handed style was a better fit for him.

“It allowed him to bowl with a heavier bowling ball,” he said. “As you know, heavier balls don’t tend to deflect off the pins.”

This year, not only could Dylan Harnden be a contender to win another Singles Finals title, but he has a decent shot of being part of a team champion thanks to a merger. 

The Utica and Eisenhower bowling programs joined forces as one this year, something Mark Harnden said was talked about for a while due to low participation numbers experienced by both programs.

“We’re trying to really allow two programs to survive in the downside until more kids get interested in bowling,” he said. 

What the merger has created is a pair of powerful combined Utica-Eisenhower programs.

The girls team now features contributors from last season’s Macomb Area Conference Red and White champions joined together as one, with returning all-state bowlers Ava Mazza (sophomore, Utica) and Sophia Matheson (senior, Eisenhower) atop an incredibly deep lineup.

For the boys, what was the outstanding duo of Harnden and Corpuz has turned into a terrific trio, with sophomore Marco Mazza joining the fray. Ava and Marco Mazza are twins whose father, John, bowled professionally.

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

(Photo of Dylan Harnden courtesy of the Harnden family.)