By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Like everybody in the field, Washburn Rural junior Josh Hammons was shooting for a state championship in Thursday's Class 6A state bowling tournament at Northrock Lanes.
But Hammons couldn't complain much after earning the first state medal of his high school career, finishing 10th with a 638 three-game series.
Hammons' highlight of the day was a second-game 268, in between 187 and 183 games.
"I'm pretty happy with my performance today,'' said Hammons, who was an individual state qualifier. "The middle game was really what got me up there.
"Of course I would have liked to shoot better, but since I'm a junior there's always next year and I want to go out there and do what I can.''
Hammons had also bowled at state as a sophomore on the Junior Blues' fourth-place team, but showed nearly a 150-pin improvement on Thursday.
"I bowled like a 490 last year so I think that since I have improved so much over last year I wonder what I can do next year,'' Hammons said. "I'm just going to put in the work and try to get there.''
Shawnee Mission East won the team championship by a 3,363-3,256 margin over Derby, with individual champion Walter Workman leading the Lancers.
Centennial League member Junction City earned the third-place team trophy with a 3,175 team score, with three Blue Jays cracking the top 20 individually.
Logan Lindsley finished 14th with 618 series while Torrey Lindsay was 16th (608) and Cael Smith 17th (604).
CLASS 6A STATE BOWLING
BOYS
Team scores
Shawnee Mission East 3,363, Derby 3,256, Junction City 3,175, Garden City 3,152, Olathe Northwest 3,110, Lawrence 3,110, Olathe South 2,904, Olathe East 2,887, Campus 2,864.
Individual results
1. Walter Workman, Shawnee Mission East, 699; 2. Kane Burns, Garden City, 696; 3. V-Thoon Thanasouk, Campus, 689; 4. Colby Hedden, Derby, 686; 5. Emilio Deloera, Wichita Northwest, 682; 6. Brady Aebersold, Shawnee Mission East, 653; 7. Maison Albarado, Lawrence, 652; 8. Jason Miller, Derby, 639; 9. John Shelton, Shawnee Mission East, 639; 10. Josh Hammons, Washburn Rural, 638; 11. Michael Anderson, Olathe West, 638; 12. Sebastian Daniel, Lawrence, 623; 13. Tyler Newell, Wichita South, 621; 14. Logan Lindsley, Junction City, 618; 15. Kaden Whitehurst, Garden City, 616; 16. Torrey Lindsay, Junction City, 608; 17. Cael Smith, Junction City, 604; 18. Chaz Smith, Wichita South, 604; 19. Thomas Mitchell, Olathe Northwest, 602; 20. Oscar Rubio, Liberal, 597.