The women's bowling team took fourth while the men finished eighth at the ISBPA Kegel Midwest Collegiate Classic January 13-14 in Addison, Illinois.

Battling brutal weather conditions and what proved to be a very tough oil pattern, the Lady Lions bowled 913, their highest game of the day, right out of the gate on Saturday and landed in third place out of 14 teams in the early "A" squad. Despite not breaking the 900 mark again the remaining four games, Lindenwood stayed essentially in the same spot in the standings, finishing with a total of 4408, just 17 pins ahead of the University of the Cumberlands in fourth. The top two teams, SCAD – Savannah and Mount Mercy, were over 300 pins ahead of the field.

After an additional 16 teams bowled the late "B" squad, the Lady Lions still maintained third place in the combined 33 team field, one that was drastically reduced due to travel conditions.

Meanwhile in men's competition, the Lions began the day with 1049, good enough for fourth place in the A squad field of 18 teams, but Lindenwood struggled the rest of the day, only breaking the thousand mark one more time. A Saturday total of 4786 put the Lions in 11^th place in the early squad and when combined with the additional 20 teams from the late squad, Lindenwood sat in 15^th place, but the standings sheet was closely contested with only 159 pins from eighth to 17^th.

With the smaller weather-affected event, the two squads were combined into one for baker competition on Sunday. The Lady Lions started the day very slowly in the first four-game set and quickly dropped to sixth place, but they made some adjustments that righted the ship. After a second set of 730, Lindenwood climbed back to fifth and remained in that spot through sets three and four. With one set (four games) to go, the Lady Lions were only 62 pins behind St. Ambrose in third and 21 pins behind the University of the Cumberlands in fourth, but only 23 pins ahead of Saint Xavier. Lindenwood saved its best for the final set, posting 756. It wasn't enough to catch the Fighting Bees, but the Lady Lions did move into fourth with a grand total of 7907, fending off the Cougars by just 10 pins. SCAD – Savannah essentially led wire to wire to take the tournament title.

Baker competition was a much different story for the Lions in a positive way. They started with games of 237 and 220 on the way to shooting 807 in the opening set, which moved them up to 12^th. The second set was full of excitement, particular in game two. After an opening game of 209, Lindenwood started the second game of the set with the first nine strikes in a row. With a perfect 300 game in reach, the Lions anchor threw a good shot, but left a pocket 7-10 split, so they settled for 266 and ultimately totaled 848 for the set, which moved the team up to 10^th.

Lindenwood wasn't spectacular the rest of the way, but steady, as the scoring pace continued to decline. Sets of 790, 747, and 770 gave the Lions a baker total of 3962 (198.1 average) and an overall total of 8748. Lindenwood had jumped seven spots all the way to eighth, finishing just 29 pins ahead of Calumet College. Mount Mercy won the event, finishing 190 pins ahead of second place Lawrence Tech.

Individually, Haylie Frick led the Lady Lions with a five-game total of 973 (196.8 average) to finish sixth, just missing an All-Tournament Team spot by 11 pins. Hailey Bozych took 15^th in the field of 194 bowlers with a total of 916 (183.2 average).

In the men's field of 257, Blake Reiger led the Lions with a total of 1057 (211.4 average), including a high game of 247. Juan Pablo Aguirre averaged 208.25 and Emmanuel McPherson averaged 195 four four games to help the Lindenwood cause.

Men's and women's bowling will compete in back-to-back one-day events January 20-21. The Lynne Jordan Memorial is Saturday and the Thomas Burris Memorial is Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky.