Leech, Lyon state bowlers of year

GPS senior Payton Leech just missed out on her second consecutive state bowling finals Thursday, finishing seventh in the Division II girls' semifinals, but she goes into the team tournament today as TSSAA bowler of the year for that classification.

Soddy-Daisy junior Matt Lyon, meanwhile, repeated as Division I boys' bowler of the year. He also missed out, however, on being one of his group's six finalists.

The only Chattanooga-area bowler in the individual finals this morning is McCallie's Jess Souther in Division II boys. He was sixth with a 714 total for four games, edging teammate John Mason Harbison, who at 700 was seventh by 36 pins.

Leech, who finished third in the individual state last year and had the DII girls' second best season average this season at 174.3, started slowly and rolled a four-game total of 571 Thursday at the Smyrna Bowling Center. Ensworth sophomore Miranda Mott led with a 706, 49 pins more than her closest contender.

St. Agnes junior Tori Henson, who had the season's best average of 182.5 per game, wound up 10th, one spot behind Baylor's Jiaxin Li. But Henson was the 2009 bowler of the year, and Leech expected a repeat.

"I totally thought she was going to win it again," Leech said Thursday night. "I'm thankful I got it, but now we're going to try to win as a team, and I think we can."

The Bruisers, 16-1 and seeded No. 1 from the East/Middle Region, face Harpeth Hall (11-3) in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. EST today, while Baylor (8-6) takes on West No. 1 St. Agnes (12-0). Boys' region winner McCallie (11-0) faces Father Ryan (11-5) at 3:30 EST, when Soddy-Daisy (18-0) meets Dobyns-Bennett (13-6) in the Division I boys' quarters.

Semifinals and finals are Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. EST.

GPS coach Jenise Gordon said Leech was throwing too hard early in Thursday's competition, not giving her ball time to move properly. Lyon had a similar explanation: "I had a lot of ball speed and wasn't hitting my marks."

A consolation for both is that they can sleep in this morning before trying to help lead their teams to state championships.

Leech's 173 in the fourth game almost got her in the finals.

"The Miss Bowler honor couldn't have gone to a better kid," Gordon said. "She's been at it only two years, but she has worked so hard trying to improve. David McGowan has done a fantastic job working with her, and she has great heart."

The bowler of the year awards recognize more than lanes success. Academics and extracurricular activities, including community service, go into the nominations.

Leech has a 3.94 grade point average even with advanced placement courses, Gordon said, and the pitcher for the three-time state champion GPS softball team also is president of the school's National Honor Society and serves on the Honor Council.

Lyon has a 3.6 GPA, also with AP and honor classes, and he has a history of helping with Special Olympics. While he wasn't as shocked Thursday as he was last year when being named bowler of the year as a sophomore, he said he really didn't expect to be honored again.

"At first I was stunned. Then I was overwhelmed with emotion," he said. "I was certainly excited and grateful that I got it."