From JV to state champion, Campus bowler Madison Walker wins Kansas high school title
Madison Walker was used to watching the Campus girls bowling team add another chapter to its dynasty at the Kansas high school state bowling tournament.
Now she has her own chapter in the dynasty.
Walker, who was a JV bowler at Campus the past two years, etched her name in history as the surprise state champion of the Class 6A girls state tournament with her series score of 653 pins on Thursday at Northrock Lanes in Wichita.
It was a 14-pin improvement on Walker’s previous best series this season, as the junior became the fourth individual champion for Campus, joining Courtney Hill (2012), Taylor Cessna (2017) and Piper Reams (2018, 2021).
She topped the 72-bowler field, edging out second place Audrey Valdez of Olathe North by 16 pins. Walker delivered the high game of her season (244) in her opening game at state, then followed it up with a 227 game to take a lead she didn’t surrender.
Walker was one of four JV bowlers from last season to help lead Campus back to the state tournament this year after the graduation of a historic senior class that led the Colts to four straight team state championships.
While Campus was unable to add to its state title collection on Thursday — the girls had won six of the past seven Class 6A titles — the team managed a second-place finish with a team score of 2,965. Even with winning the Baker format, Campus came up 49 pins shy of champion Junction City’s team score.
Campus had two other state medalists in senior Bre Warren (16th, 545) and sophomore Savanah Hsu (20th, 533), while sophomore Allie Gentry (497), sophomore McKenzie Goupil (453) and senior Kenzie Kling (414) rounded out the team score.
Wichita Northwest finished sixth in the team race, bolstered by a pair of top-10 finishes with freshman Avery Schippers (seventh, 577) and senior Yumi Yoshikai (eighth, 571) each rolling their high series of the season at state. Another City League bowler, Wichita South senior Nicki Culp, also picked up a medal with a 548 series for a 15th-place finish.
Derby boys finish second at 6A state bowling
After entering with the highest scoring average in 6A, the Derby boys came 14 pins away from winning a state championship. The Panthers finished with a team score of 3,256 for a runner-up finish behind Shawnee Mission East with a 3,363 score with the Baker format included. Junior Colby Hedden led the way with a fourth-place overall finish with a 686 series, while senior Jason Miller, who led 6A in scoring average this season, notched an eighth-place finish with a series of 639. Senior Alex Hedden (592, 21st place) just missed out on a medal, while freshman Dawson Baumgartner (579), senior Braden Boswell (556) and junior Mason Blanck (482) rounded out Derby’s team.
Campus senior V-Thoon Thanasouk was the area’s top finisher, taking third with a steady performance that led to a series of 689, just 10 pins shy of individual champion Walter Workman of SM East.
Wichita Northwest senior Emilio Deloera rolled a season-best series of 682, highlighted by a 279 third game, to finish fifth overall, while the City League also had two other medalists in the Wichita South duo of junior Tyler Newell (621, 13th) and senior Chaz Smith (604, 18th).
Kansas high school state bowling results
Class 6A boys
Teams—1. Shawnee Mission East 3,363; 2. Derby (C. Hedden 686, Miller 639, A. Hedden 592, Baumgartner 579, Boswell 556, Blanck 482) 3,256; 3. Junction City 3,175; 4. Garden City 3,152; 5. Olathe Northwest 3,110; 6. Lawrence 3,110; 7. Olathe South 2,904; 8. Olathe East 2,887; 9. Campus (Thanasouk 689, Clark 538, Reed 478, Todd 468, Flinn 429, Whitson 425) 2,864.
Medalists—1. Workman, SM East, 699; 2. Burns, Garden City, 696; 3. Thanasouk, Campus, 689; 4. C. Hedden, Derby, 686; 5. Deloera, Wichita Northwest, 682; 6. Aebersold, SM East, 653; 7. Albarado, Lawrence, 652; 8. Miller, Derby, 639; 9. Shelton, SM East, 639; 10. Hammons, Washburn Rural, 638; 11. Anderson, Olathe West, 638; 12. Daniel, Lawrence, 623; 13. Newell, Wichita South, 621; 14. Lindsley, Junction City, 618; 15. Whitehurst, Garden City, 616; 16. Lindsay, Junction City, 608; 17. Smith, Junction City, 604; 18. Smith, Wichita South, 604; 19. Mitchell, Olathe Northwest, 602; 20. Rubio, Liberal, 597.
Class 6A girls
Teams—1. Junction City 3,014; 2. Campus (Walker 653, Warren 545, Hsu 533, Gentry 497, Goupil 453, Kling 414) 2,965; 3. Washburn Rural 2,925; 4. Garden City 2,837; 5. Olathe East 2,796; 6. Wichita Northwest (Schippers 577, Yoshikai 571, Womack 520, Stockstill 478, Stallings 391, Lee 383) 2,783; 7. Olathe Northwest 2,636; 8. Olathe North 2,563; 9. Olathe South 2,508.
Medalists—1. Walker, Campus, 653; 2. Valdez, Olathe North, 637; 3. Oliver, Junction City, 625; 4. Doyal, Washburn Rural, 616; 5. Lenz, Dodge City, 602; 6. Martinez, Washburn Rural, 583; 7. Schippers, Wichita Northwest, 577; 8. Yoshikai, Wichita Northwest, 571; 9. Leeper, Garden City, 567; 10. Hunter, Junction City, 562; 11. Kritzler, Olathe East, 561; 12. Bridges, Garden City, 561; 13. Rogers, Gardner-Edgerton, 554; 14. Holmes, Olathe Northwest, 554; 15. Culp, Wichita South, 548; 16. Warren, Campus, 545; 17. Holmes, Olathe Northwest, 544; 18. Richards, Olathe East, 542; 19. Eschliman, Junction City, 536; 20. Hsu, Campus, 533.
.jpg)