Wayland High School standout bowlers senior Bella Harnish and junior Kadence Bottrall finished second and third, respectively, in the Division 2 individual state tournament at Salem Super Bowl Saturday.
The two faced daunting challenges climbing through the ranks of individual qualifiers. Bottrall had a particularly difficult road, as she barely survived the first cut down to 16 rollers, taking the 15th slot.
Harnish, in closing out her high school career on the lanes, finished fifth in the first round to make the cut.
Both Lady Wildcats then made the cut down to eight before joining the elite final four.
It was the first time a Wayland bowler had finished that high in the individual state tourney since Sydney Urben was state runner-up as a sophomore in 2016 and came back two years later to claim the state championship.
Harnish won her next three matches before finally bowing in the championship two-game match to Karli Vanduinen of Whitehall, 460-381.
Bottrall won her first two matches before losing in the semifinal round to Vanduinen, 441-385.
Bottrall emerged in the finals as a regional champion the week before at Spectrum Lanes in Grand Rapids, where Harnish had finished third.
The Lady Wildcats’ bowling team the day before finished 11th in the team competition of the state tournament.
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