Intramural bowling starts next week

Students from Southeast Missouri State University will be at West Park Lanes in Cape Girardeau on Nov. 19 participating in a one-night intramural bowling tournament.

Assistant director of Recreation Services Jennifer Rose said the tournament will begin at 9 p.m., and there are a few reasons for the late start.

"We try to do it after students are done with classes," Rose said. "So we are going at a time when [West Park Lanes'] bowling traffic is really, really light there. We go after leagues are out."

The scoring system for the tournament is set up similar to most bowling leagues students may have participated in.

"We normally play three games and then it's the highest pin total after three games will win depending on which division you're in," Rose said.

According to Rose, students will be able to participate in one of three divisions: women's open, men's open and men's Greek.

The Greek organizations are all competing for a Greek Cup based on points they earn for participating in different activities, including intramural sports, throughout the school year.

For some groups, having fun is just as important as competing for the cup.

"We expect to do good, we expect to have fun, but we know that we're no professional bowlers over here, and we don't have any professional bowlers on our team," Chad Grapperhaus, intramural chair for Phi Delta Theta, said.

"So for me going by myself this is going to be just kind of for fun, and I hope I can do good and at least get us some points."

Grapperhaus is the only bowler for Phi Delta Theta, but that isn't by choice.

"We only have one guy doing it mainly because we only have one team for everything," Grapperhaus said. "Right now Phi Delta is on a low budget, so we only get one team for each event and if we want to have an extra team then [the guys] have to pay for it themselves."

Students that do pay for to participate will pay $10, and, according to Jennifer Rose, that will cover the costs to use West Park Lanes.

If students are worried that the late start time of the tournament will cause it to end too late, Rose said that's been taken into consideration.

"Three or four [bowlers per lane] keeps your games moving, and you're able to get in three games in a reasonable amount of time," Rose said.

Recreation Services also puts on a bowling tournament at the beginning of the spring semester, so if a student misses the individual tournament in the fall, they can sign up with friends to bowl in February.

Rose said they usually plan the night with West Park Lanes a few weeks before the night of the event.

"We are very lucky because actually West Park Lanes is really easy to work with," Rose said. "They know us. They know we do the individual in the fall and the team in the spring, so it's really easy to get in."

The tournament starts at 9 p.m. on Nov. 19 at West Park Lanes, but students need to sign up in advance on imleagues.com.