Swartz Creek Girls Complete Championship Climb with Historic Sweep
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
WATERFORD —Swartz Creek girls bowling coach Mike Vanderkuur has never had to look far to try and emulate the state’s gold standard.
Ever since starting the middle school bowling program for Swartz Creek 12 years ago and taking over as head coach of the high school team seven years later, Vanderkuur has soaked up everything league rival and neighbor Flint Kearsley did en route to winning nine Division 2 titles over the last 11 seasons.
“It’s always been my goal to do what Kearsley has done,” Vanderkuur said. “It was definitely where I wanted to get to.”
Vanderkuur and Swartz Creek arrived Friday during the Division 2 Team Final at Century Bowl, finishing first out of the qualifying block and then rolling to its first championship.
The Dragons finished their run with a three-game sweep of Cedar Springs in the final, winning 148-138, 223-115 and 201-196 in the best-of-five Baker game format.
Vanderkuur and his bowlers were obviously emotional afterward, reflecting on the fact they spent years together through the middle school program and on the high school team working for this moment.
“Every one of these girls besides two started in sixth grade,” Vanderkuur said. “They’ve stuck, stuck and stuck all the way up.”
As it advanced, Swartz Creek felt like it was destined for a championship match against Kearsley, but the bracket didn’t pan out that way.
In the semifinals, Cedar Springs earned a four-game win (146-162, 172-157, 188-158, 175-148) over Kearsley to set up the matchup with Swartz Creek, which defeated Sparta 210-148 in the fifth game of a semifinal match.
But in its first appearance in the championship match, Cedar Springs couldn’t muster the same energy against Swartz Creek.
“Honestly, I just think our girls ran out of steam,” Cedar Springs head coach Crystal Morales said. “I think the energy was pretty much out. It kind of fell apart at the end.”
Swartz Creek had a score of 3,337 out of the qualifying block, well ahead of No. 2 seed Bay City John Glenn’s total of 3,196.
The Dragons then earned a four-game win over Mason in the quarterfinals.
Swartz Creek was a bit surprised to not see Kearsley in the championship match, but didn’t let up against Cedar Springs.
“I dreamt of it,” said Swartz Creek senior Kaidance Gates-Leonard. “I wish the older girls (before) would have made it. But we do good every year, and we deserve it.”
Morales said the main goal for her team was to make it out of the qualifying block, and Cedar Springs managed to do that by 74 pins as the No. 7 seed.
The Red Hawks then got hot, starting with a four-game win over John Glenn in the quarterfinals before knocking off Kearsley.
“After the first individual game, I didn’t think we were in the cut,” Morales said. “That last (individual game), we pulled a 934, and I was like ‘We might have just pulled ourselves in this.’
Kearsley was the third seed out of the qualifying block and defeated Three Rivers in the quarterfinals in four games.
Sparta recorded a five-game win over New Boston Huron in the other quarterfinal.
Legacies Created, Grow with D2 Winners
March 7, 2015
By Sarah Jaeger
Special for Second Half
WATERFORD – Flint Kearsley can add another championship to its school bowling history. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer can add its first.
After Kearsley won its second Finals team title in as many years Friday, junior Chad Stephens took home the singles title Saturday at Century Lanes in Waterford. Reeths-Puffer senior Kayleigh Gonzalez, meanwhile, claimed her school’s first bowling title in her first Singles Finals appearance.
"It's pretty great, back-to-back titles as a team and coming back and winning singles," Stephens said. "It's pretty incredible."
To claim his second championship of the weekend, Stephens in the Final faced Charlotte senior Collin Fox, no stranger to competing for an MHSAA title.
"I think he's a great quality bowler," said Charlotte coach David Jackson. "He finished third last year. I think he was in the final eight the year before. I kind of thought he'd go all the way today."
However, Stephens jumped to an early lead with a 226 to Fox's 179. While Fox came back with a 207, Stephens finished the set with a 187 to win with a total of 413 to Fox's 386.
While the end result may not have been to Fox's liking, he will take with him a memorable moment from the 2015 Singles Finals. "Picking up the 7-10," said Fox. "That's probably the highlight. I guess it's a good way to end senior year."
"I'm sorry to lose him," Jackson added. " I kept telling him to fail some test so he could come back and bowl some more. He wouldn't listen."
The toughest match for Stephens may not have been the Final but rather the Semifinal, where he had to take on his teammate, Kearsley senior Anthony Kelley.
"I don't really like facing a teammate," said Stephens, "but on the lanes it's just business. You have to work hard for this game no matter who you're bowling."
"I had to continually remind them to take it seriously because after this you've got one more match to bowl somebody," said Flint Kearsley coach Bart Rutledge. "So you can't let up and let the emotion go."
Emotions were high in the girls singles competition as well. The final match pinned Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Gonzalez against Tecumseh junior Kayla Wild.
While both left some open frames during the first game, Gonzales was able to put a string of strikes together and take the lead 210 to 175.
"I knew that I had a little bit of an advantage because I had a 210 the first game," said Gonzalez. "So as long as I kept at a steady pace with her, I knew I was ok."
Pace she did. Gonzalez finished with a 182 while Wild had trouble covering some of her spares, throwing a 175 for her last game.
"I thought I bowled well all day," Wild said. "I was surprised when I missed that many spares the last game. I know my thumb started to hurt, but that's not an excuse. I could have got them."
While she may have appeared calm after claiming the Division 2 singles championship, Gonzalez was in shock.
"I was kind of surprised," said Gonzalez, who will attend Muskegon Community College next year and bowl for the Jayhawks. "I didn't think I'd actually win. I was just happy to get into the top 16."
"This was the third year in a row we were able to come for Team (Finals)," said Reeths-Puffer assistant coach, Marc Vanderstelt, also Gonzalez's stepdad, "but the first chance for Kayleigh as an individual in the three years she's been on the team. She just did a phenomenal job."
As for the runner-up, Wild, this was only her third year bowling. Being a junior, she is poised to come back stronger for her senior year.
"You know when you get to that top 16 anything can happen," said Tecumseh coach Ken Richard. "We'll work on her spare shooting and the mental game to pull it off."
Wild's hope is to do what Kearsley's Stephen did this year: "A state championship, either team or individual, or both would work."
Click for full girls results and full boys results.