The Mustangs’ men’s and women’s bowling teams both qualified for the ITC Sectional Tournament in Dallas.

Morningside College’s men’s and women’s bowling teams both qualified for the Intercollegiate Team Championship (ITC) Sectional Tournament.

 The Mustangs are assigned to the Dallas Sectional to be held at USA Bowl on March 10 and 11. The other three sectional sites are in Stratford, N.J., Smyrna, Tenn. and Fairview Heights, Ill.

The Mustang men qualified for sectionals for the third year in a row, while the Morningside women will make their sectional tournament debut.

The Mustang women also made school history earlier this year when they won the team and match play tournament championships at the Stout State Open in Eau Claire, Wis., for the first women’s team titles in the five-year history of Morningside’s varsity bowling program. Aside from the team championships at the Stout State Open, Emma Sonier, a sophomore from Sioux City, became the Mustangs’ first-ever women’s individual tournament champion when she knocked down 1672 pins for a 186 average at the Stout State Open. Sonier leads the Mustangs with a season’s average of 181.

Brooke Bomgaars, a freshman from Sioux City, has the Mustangs’ second highest average with a 175. She made the all-tournament team at this season’s Hastings College Bronco Open with a third place finish in the tourney’s individual standings with 1128 pins for a 188 average.

Haley Mathes, a junior from Oskaloosa, Iowa; Marie Sitz, a junior from O’Neill, Neb.; and Marianna Pizzini, a freshman from Helena, Mont., have averages of 168, 168 and 167, respectively, to round out the Mustangs’ top five.

Alex Eukovich, a senior from Berwyn, Ill., leads the Mustang men with an average of 194, while Jorge Loredo Duran, a freshman from Toluca, Mexico; and Matthew Hystad, a sophomore from Le Mars, Iowa, are right behind with averages of 192. Tanner Hansel, a junior from Sioux City, has a 188 average and Tommy Croskrey, a freshman from Great Falls, Mont., has a 186 average.

Hystad made the all-tournament team in the Mustangs’ regular season finale when he knocked down 1270 pins for a 212 average to finish third in the individual standings at the Hastings College Bronco Blast.

Sectional assignments are based on Team Ranking System (TRS) points earned throughout the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) collegiate season. The sectional format consists of 32 Baker games each day for a total of 64 Baker games. Total pinfall for the 64 games will determine the top four teams from each sectional that advance to the ITC National Championships to be held April 18-21 at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Neb.

The Mustang men will compete against Grand Canyon, Hastings, Iowa Central Community College, Kansas Wesleyan, Louisiana State, McKendree, Midland, Nevada-Las Vegas, Newman, San Jose State, Southwestern Christian, Spring Hill, West Texas A&M, Wichita State and William Penn in their sectional. The Mustang women’s sectional opponents include Baker, Grand Canyon, Hastings, Iowa Central, McKendree, Midland, Newman, Ottawa, Spring Hill, West Texas A&M, Wichita State and William Penn.

In addition to the team competition, each sectional will host individual qualifying events on March 9 to determine the field for the national singles tournament on April 17-18 in Lincoln.