INDIANAPOLIS - The Notre Dame Falcons traveled to Indianapolis, Ind. this past weekend to take on a very strong field of college men's and women's bowling teams. Bowling at the Western Bowl, the teams rolled six regular individual games on Saturday and then 16 baker team games on Sunday.

On the women's side, the Falcons bowled to a decent team average of 179 on day one during the individual games. That placed them a respectable 12th out of 27 teams in the field. Senior Sarah Benedict led the team with a individual 1,136 total, an average of 189, including four games of 211 or higher. Junior Rachel Foreback contributed a 225 game, which was the highest game of day one. Freshman Carly Jones struggled out of the gate but contributed a very nice 219 game and another 200 in her last game. Senior Hannah Klein, who rolled the ball so well all day, had a high game of 215.  Also contributing was junior Olivia Johnson, with a game of 202.

Day two for the women was a totally different story. The baker game format and lane condition made for a very high scoring environment. Their first set of four baker games included consecutive games of 224, 226, and 225 games. The highlight of the day was an exciting 279 game, which included nine strikes in a row to finish the game. NDC followed that game with another strong 233. They wrapped up the final set of four baker games with three consecutive baker games of 232, 227 and 235. The women's team averaged 207 in the baker games which landed them a nice top-10 finish to the tournament.

For the men, competing against a very talented group of collegiate men's teams, they bowled to a team average of 188 the first day, putting them in 25th place. Senior Connor Gallagher had a team high 1,181, contributing games of 205 and 212. Alex Etheredge came in off the bench and rolled games of 243, 204 and 218, and averaged team high 200 for the day. Sophomore Joshua Dohm rolled a couple of nice games of 234 and 209. Senior Michael Wiese bowled a superb game of 253, as well.

For the bakers, they improved to a 198 average and settled in to a 24th place finish. The highlight of their Sunday was an outstanding 284 baker game, which included the first 10 strikes in a row.

NDC will go to Dayton this weekend to compete in two separate tournaments in back-to-back days at the Orange and Black Tournament.