After losing a close battle in the state championship, Española’s bowlers were sad about the loss, having expected more.
But team coach Jeanie Brito was more upbeat.
“I am not at all disappointed in them, because I think they had a great showing,” she said. “A couple of the kids might have been disappointed that they fell shy. Second out of 10 teams is not bad, and I’m really proud of them.”
Española Valley fell just short of a state championship for the second time in three years at the state bowling tournament on Feb. 2 in Albuquerque, losing to Artesia in the championship series. Pojoaque Valley finished in third.
Española senior Jacob Samaniego was the individual boys state champion, and Pojoaque’s Jordan Lujan won the girls individual championship.
After the conclusion, Española’s bowlers were hurt and disappointed with the loss.
“We were feeling good going into that final match,” said senior team captain Raymond Archuleta. “Just shows how quick tables can flip.”
Through the start, Española kept pace with Artesia, something teams had rarely done in recent years, with Artesia now having won seven of the last eight titles. Even two years ago, when Española won the championship, they were over 600 pins behind Artesia before scores reset for the championship.
The tournament begins with five bowlers from each team all bowling three individual games, and the total scores added. Artesia led the way with 2,829 pins from those games, with Española second and Pojoaque fourth.
Those individual games are also counted for team awards: Jacob Samaniego bowled a 206, 218 then 204, taking first place for high series overall. Jaydon Warner also bowled a 222 in the third game.
Pojoaque’s Luis Aguilar scored a 245 in his second game, which won him high game across all competitors. The team as a whole scored a 950 in that second round, and beat Artesia who was on the neighboring lane. They were seemingly embarrassed by how much they enjoyed Artesia’s late gutter ball that ensured Pojoaque would finish that round with a higher score.
Jordan Lujan from Pojoaque won first place in the girls division for both high game and high series, with a 197 game and a 550 three-game series. Emma Kitchens finished second in both categories. Kitchens was also named to the all-state team.
Then, the “Baker Games” begin. Those games feature five bowlers rotating frames for a 10-frame game. And in those games, with the team camaraderie, Española shines. After starting 140 pins behind in the individual series, they started to mount a comeback.
In the first Baker game, Española recorded a 200, 39 pins better than Artesia’s first game. Then they scored a 202. Their third game was a 244.
Their 244 would have been the second-highest individual score from the whole day.
“We were loud, we felt motivated, the energy was high,” Archuleta said.
“We work as a team,” Samaniego said. “Everyone hypes up each other, and gets everything going.”
Archuleta said that playing on the lanes’ oil at the start of the day was more difficult. And Brito said the fast pace of the Baker games is another reason it works so well for Española. Emillio Samaniego shined in the Baker games, at one point recording 18 strikes in a row.
After the three individual games and four Baker games, the top six teams advanced for four more Baker games. Then, those four teams bowl three more Baker games, with the top two scores from across all games to that point advancing to the final. Artesia finished at 4,760 and Española at 4,706. In just the 10 Baker games, Artesia scored 1,931 while Española finished with 2,017.
Pojoaque scored a 237 in their second-to-last Baker game, vaulting them ahead of Bernalillo for third place, after they were close behind through the first round. But they were well behind both Artesia and Española for a spot in the championship.
Española’s success was consistent in the Baker games, averaging over 200. Outside of a 160 in the final game, they never scored lower than 181, and went over 200 in six of their 10 games. But after a long day, the championship series was a big drop off for the Sundevils.
All scores are reset for the Championship, a three-game Baker series with the two top teams going head-to-head. For the second time in three years, it was Española Valley taking on Artesia.
Emillio Samaniego started off the championship with a strike. Artesia finished their first game with a 187. Española bowled a 188.
In the second game, Española hit 173, one of their lowest scores of the day. With Artesia at 187, that put Española down by 13 entering the final game. Two years back, the Sundevils trailed by 40 entering the final game, and made it up and more with an incredible 246. A 13-pin difference made it anyone’s game.
The third game started with an Española miss, hitting five pins on the first shot and three on the second. Then Artesia left a split open on the second frame. Every ball felt the most meaningful throughout the game. Artesia missed a 10-pin in the fifth frame, opening the door to the Sundevils.
But in the ninth frame, with the match essentially tied, Jacob Samaniego bowled into a split, and Artesia hit a strike when a pin took the right bounce, and that was the end. Española finished that game with just a 165, and Artesia’s 190 got them the win.
“It’s just something we can’t do against a team like that,” Archuleta said of their scores. “We’re all disappointed in how the outcome came. But we still gave it a good run.”
During the award ceremony, Archuleta was announced as the season high average champion.
“High average has been evading me all of my high-school years,” Archuleta said. One year, he had the best average, but had not competed enough to qualify.
Both Española’s and Artesia’s scores through all those rounds would have qualified first at the 5A tournament.
Archuleta, along with teammates Nathaniel Suazo and Emillio Samaniego will compete at the Junior Gold national championships in Detroit, Mich. And Archuleta said he might return to help coach the team.
Brito expects the team to return strong. Archuleta and Jacob Samaniego are the only two seniors leaving the team, and Brito said that current seventh-grader Lane Warner is a rising star.
“I think we’re going to have a much stronger team next year,” Brito said. She also said, “We have a really strong field, and I expect that they’ll take first next year.”