The Wayland girls’ varsity bowling team finished third Saturday at the Rockford Invitational.

Coach Bill Holbrook said the Lady Wildcats lost by 12 pins (319-307) in the semi-finals to the host school and eventual champs, Rockford.

The Lady Wildcats were consistent on a tough oil pattern, rolling 776 their first individual game and 725 the second.  They continued with a four-game Baker set of 583.  Their 2084 score qualified them in fourth position.  Wayland faced Cedar Springs in the quarter-final round and won 333-279.

Leading the Lady Wildcats were sophomore Alicia Sweeney (202-174=376) and junior Lizzy Cobb broke out of her slump (178-165=343).

“This was no where near the level these girls have bowled in the past few weeks and yet their tenacity and team chemistry propelled them to being able to hang and compete with some of the best girls’ teams in the area,” Holbrook said. “A good sign for the remainder of the season.”

Wayland will have three home matches this week, starting with two conference matches Tuesday vs. Byron Center and Thursday vs. Unity Christian and finishing with Hopkins Friday.