The Barton Community College bowling teams followed up their outstanding program debut by finishing in the top half of the field over the weekend at the Andy B's Invitational held in Springfield, Missouri.

The Cougar men placed fourth in Saturday's Team Challenge competition, knocking down 6028 pins in the seven games to finish behind Culver-Stockton College by just forty-six.  McKendree University tallied the most on the day with 6978 while Ottawa University compiled 6721 for the runner-up position of the nine team standings. 

Barton moved up the leaderboard during Sunday's Baker games competition, compiling 6216 pins to place third. McKendree again won the team title, chalking up a 7262 tally with Missouri Baptist University finishing runner-up with 6321 pins.

The women also placed fourth in Saturday's competition as the Lady Cougars tallied 5460 pins to finish in the middle of the seven team pack.  Drury University's 6120 pins led the field with Ottawa University compiling 6092 for second.  Barton also scored fourth in Sunday's Baker games with a 5604 as Drury again won the title amassing 6363 pins.

"Both teams are learning how to compete against high level teams," said Head Coach Mike Perry. "It's a process of figuring out how the game of bowling works at the collegiate level, so we'll be looking to progress with each tournament."

Barton's next action will be close to home as the Cougars head to Wichita this weekend for the Mid-States Championships held Saturday and Sunday.  Action is expected to start Saturday at 12:00 p.m. with the Cougar men rolling the sphere at North Rock Lanes as the women will be simultaneously competing at West Acres Lanes. 

Individually the Cougar men were led by Creyton Nisly in the 30^th spot of the 96-man field with Jordan Black close behind in the 31^st position.  After sitting out the opening games, Nisly warmed up with a 174 before posting a tournament high 199 in the finale to combine for 1080 pins and a team high 180 average.   Black opened with a 175 and 170 before sitting out the third, coming back from the break with a 224 on the way to a 1066 tournament tally in averaging 178 per game.  Tracey Hill earned top single game honors, rolling a 233 in the fifth game to average just over 177 pins in his four trips on the lanes.

Cordell Stanley led Barton's "B" team entry to a third place out of five teams, rolling a 168 average in six games to place 38^th overall in the standings. On Sunday, the squad moved up the chart to second place in the Baker games compiling a 5559 as McKendree's squad wond the title with a 6929 score.

Allison Brodrick flirted with the top ten of the fifty-seven women's entry field with a 12^th place finish, rolling a 191 high in her fourth of seven games to average 165 for a total of 1155 pins and twenty-eight out of the tenth spot.

Alexandria Newell carried the team's high average of 168 behind a high 224 in the third game on the way to compiling 1008 in six games to place 27^th overall.