The Pagosa Springs High School (PSHS) Pirate Unified bowling team is heading to state for the third consecutive year after picking up its second regional title.
The team took 11th out of 27 teams at last year’s state championships, and placed 12th the year before that.
The Pirates advanced to state for the third time after finishing first at regionals on Nov. 15 with a total pinfall of 501 over five games.
They bested Bayfield’s 400 and Eagle Valley’s 407.
Cyndi Figaro, special talents teacher at PSHS, notes the team will be looking to top its regional pinfall total at the state meet, which is set for Friday, Nov. 22, at the Bowlero at Lone Tree beginning at 10:45 a.m.
“Our team has 4 athletes that have grown together since their freshman year : Justus, Juriah, Samuel and Carson (all juniors now) have improved each year. Our unified partners have been a Senior Girl, this year’s Partner is Honestye Sweet. Honestye has a great rapport with our special needs students. She is a great role model for them,” Figaro wrote.
Twenty-eight teams (the top two to three teams from each of the state’s 10 regions) will take part in the tournament, which the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) explains will be tournament play, where each team will bowl five three-player coed/modified Baker Games with the top-three teams being determined by total pinfall through those five games.
All teams will play in an open format; there will be no bracket. The top two scores (based on total pinfall) will determine the state champion and runner up.
A Baker Game, CHSAA notes, “is when team members rotate between the three players with each participant rolling one ball before a teammate rolls the next. Regardless of a spare or strike, the next participant will always roll the next ball. This format gives equal playing time for each member, creating meaningful participation that is essential to the Unified Sports® model.”
What is Unified bowling?
Unified bowling became a sanctioned sport under CHSAA in 2019, with play beginning during the 2020-2021 season. It is in partnership with Special Olympics Colorado.
Special Olympics Unified sports combine students with intellectual disabilities and Unified partners without intellectual disabilities on bowling teams for training and competition.
The Archuleta School District Board of Education added Unified bowling as a sport at PSHS in the fall of 2021.
