INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Notre Dame College men's bowling team closed out the regular season with a dominating performance to claim the championship of the Western Shootout on March 28.  The win came in the second tournament of a weekend doubleheader and followed a fourth-place finish in the March 27 opener. The Falcon women finished sixth and fifth in the twin events that were contested at Royal Pin – Expo.

After three rounds of Sunday's five-game fray, the NDC men were in second place, trailing Huntington University by 63 pins. The team then flipped a switch and erupted with games of 1,166 and 1,149, averaging 231 per bowler, as they ended the day in the lead by 207 pins. It was the team's second championship of the season. The Falcon men also won an Ohio Bowling Conference tournament on February 27.

Sophomore Romeo Patrick-Holmes, who rolled a perfect 300 game in the Warhawk Open on March 13, began the day with games of 268 and 258. His 242 five-game average topped the 88-player field. Senior Conner Novak led the final charge with scores of 278 and 267, finishing second in the field with an overall average of 235. Junior Anthony Doran was ninth with a 219 average and a 255 game, while junior Reginald Petty posted a 259 score and averaged 215 for four games.

The NDC women also finished strong on Sunday, striking seven times in the tenth frame of the final game to remain in fifth place by just eight pins over Campbellsville University. Freshman Hannah Klein led the team with games of 236 and 221, averaging 196 to place sixth among the 57 women competing in the event. Senior Meghan Ritzinger was 14th with a 186 average, while senior Melanie Bielecki contributed a 208 score. The women's division was won by Judson University.

The Falcon bowlers had also saved their best for last during Saturday's lower-scoring contest that consisted of 25 Baker games, a format in which each team member rolls two of the ten frames. The men averaged 214 for their last six games, a run during which they blasted a 267 score, while the women closed out the first day of competition with their top two scores of the day. Saturday's men's division was won by Calumet College of St. Joseph, while Tusculum University led the women's division.

The Falcon men ended the season 17th in the nation in points, and the women were 36th as the campaign closed. Both teams earned berths in the Intercollegiate Team Championships Sectional Qualifiers on April 17 and 18. The teams will learn their Sectional assignments on Wednesday.