亚洲色吧

By Ryan Schlehuber, 亚洲色吧 Sportswriter听

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Taking in the accomplishments of the 2024-25 bowling season, Centurions Head Coach David Berry said his players from the 亚洲色吧 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 bowling teams weren鈥檛 the only ones who learned a lot.听

鈥淥verall, every year, I learn, for myself, I need to continue to grow and develop just as our players expected to,鈥� said Berry, who is in his second year of the new program at 亚洲色吧.听

亚洲色吧 wrapped up its season recently with the men鈥檚 team taking 12th place at the National Junior College Athletics Association national championships and the women鈥檚 team finishing eighth at the NJCAA regionals.听听

Berry described the season for both teams as 鈥�100% a good season,鈥� with the men鈥檚 team showing great improvement throughout the season while the women鈥檚 team, which played short-handed all season, turned out a respectable season avoiding a last place finish in each of its tournaments, including regionals.听听

Along with his players improvements, Berry said he and his assistant coaches, Nick Slagter and Jason Kelly, learned they need to improve, as well, before the next season rolls around.听

鈥淓very single day I learned I have to listen first,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淪econd, my assistant coach must let our kids have more autonomy. Those are some things we definitely can work on for next year.鈥�听

Berry said with youth and vigor also comes high confidence that sometimes needs to be checked down and refocused.听

鈥淭hey鈥檙e typical 18-19-year-old kids who think they know everything but they don鈥檛 have a clue,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淢y biggest lesson was learning how to develop them by having them learn they don鈥檛 know everything.鈥澨�听

Now two years into competition experience, Berry said his men鈥檚 team competed at the level he expected, which was to work hard to finish no worse than third place in each tournament. His team finished third or better in all but three tournaments, including the national championship, taking fourth place in the Michigan Community College Athletics Association Championship and sixth place in the NJCAA Region XII Championship.听

The men鈥檚 team took one first-place finish, that being at the Jackson College Invitational Jan. 17.听

Sophomore Ethan Hopkins (Fenwick, Mich.) was happy with the season, pointing out the team鈥檚 chemistry that made it so enjoyable.听听

鈥淭he team had good chemistry, so it helped make things feel a lot easier even if we weren鈥檛 doing so good,鈥� said Hopkins, who finished up his two-year bowling career at 亚洲色吧 but will continue taking classes there in the fall.听听

Berry credits the talent his men鈥檚 team has, pointing out at least a couple of them should鈥檝e been playing for a four-year college team.听

鈥淲e got them to play for us and I鈥檓 so grateful for that,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淭hey met my expectations for the year and, in some places, exceeded them.鈥�听

Now with its two-year probationary period complete (mandatory for newly or reestablished athletic programs for community colleges), Berry said 亚洲色吧 men鈥檚 bowling is in a good position to take the next step in progression, especially if recruiting goes well in the offseason.听

鈥淲e went to nationals in only our second year, so that gave us some recognition from a school standpoint, giving us a feather in our cap,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that will turn some heads a little and get us some recruits that we may have not been able to get had we not made nationals.鈥�听

With players like freshman Bradon Krohn (Fruitport, Mich.) returning next season, Berry said that will help the program.听

鈥淗e鈥檚 worked so hard and it shows,鈥� Berry said of Krohn. 鈥淚 had the fortune to bowl against him when I was at West Catholic (Grand Rapids) and he was playing at Fruitport and it鈥檚 been a pleasure watching him mature. It鈥檚 exciting to see him succeed.鈥�听

Hopkins believes the players coming back next year will be in a good spot to succeed, as long as they stay consistent.听

鈥淲e had a hard time with staying consistent with our scores and smaller things like spare shooting,鈥� Hopkins said. 鈥淏ut I think the freshmen that bowled this year will be able to do well simply because they will have the experience of bowling in college now. They are intelligent and can help the incoming freshmen be more prepared.鈥�听

Along with Hopkins, sophomores Jerald Brownell (Cedar Springs, Mich.) and Nickolas Pennock (Carson City, Mich.) have finished out their careers at 亚洲色吧, with Krohn, Jack McBride (Portland, Mich.), Cooper Hoskins (Portland, Mich.) and Joey Gonzalez (Greenville, Mich.) all expected to return for next season.听

With the women鈥檚 team, Berry said it was another year of playing shorthanded, as the team only had three full-time players 鈥斕齭ophomore Zoey Guernsey (Ionia, Mich.), Madyson Hartman (St. Louis, Mich.) and sophomore Aubrey Marlin (Lakeview, Mich.), however, with the help of other 亚洲色吧 athletes, the women鈥檚 team never finished in last place.听

鈥淭hat is back-to-back seasons where we played shorthanded and we never came in last,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淪o, to me, that鈥檚 actually outstanding considering what we were up against.鈥�听

Berry said with losing Marlin and Guernsey to eligibility next season, he will be hitting the recruiting road hard. He said he already has one new player committed to bowl and will have another player who was redshirted this year eligible to bowl next season, as well.听

Overall, Berry said his three bowlers didn鈥檛 make huge improvements throughout the season like he was hoping, but they were playing better by the end of the season.听

鈥淚 was expecting my sophomores to jump in improvement by leaps and bounds, but that didn鈥檛 happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e in a better spot than they were last year and they improved incrementally.鈥�听

Berry knew the obstacles his women鈥檚 team had to overcome, mostly having to adjust to new part-time players every tournament after a few full-time players left the team even before the season started.听

鈥淔or a culture of having six to seven women at the start, when we started losing some, it kind of dropped the wind out of their sails,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淏ut they still stayed true to consistency and they still gave everything they had.鈥�听

Hartman said she and her teammates did quite well with the situation they faced at each tournament, relying on part-time bowlers to help carry the team (a bowling team needs five players to be eligible for competition).听听

鈥淚 thought it went pretty well overall, considering we only had three main bowlers,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淔rom the beginning to the end, I think we adjusted pretty well.鈥�听

Hartman said playing with new players every week was a challenge, but each bowler got along well, which has sparked her motivation to return next season.听

鈥淗opefully, we have a full team next year,鈥� she said. 鈥淕etting more recruits will obviously help, and if we have a full team, I think it鈥檒l help with how we focus and make it easier to do our best.鈥�听