Tornado girls bowling earns trip to states

The Butler High School varsity girls bowling team has qualified for the state tournament, finishing second in the Western Pa. regional.
The Golden Tornado girls trailed only Hempfield in the 18-team field, with squads competing from the Pittsburgh, Altoona, Erie and DuBois areas.
Butler's squad consisted of Brea Suchonic, Autumn Hepler, Megan Paul, Nicole Balk, Kelly Bintrim, Heather Paul and Mikayla White. The state championships are Saturday at North Versailles Lanes.
Hepler, a junior, and Paul, a freshman, also reached the state tourney in singles competition. After six games of regional competition, the top-12 girls advance to the state meet. Hepler was fifth with a 1,099 series (191-167-187-189-203-162) while Paul was eighth with a 1,080 (202-190-176-194-141-177).
Just missing the top 12 were Bintrim, and Suchonic, who placed 14th and 15th, respectively. Heather Paul and Balk also qualified for regional singles.
Butler's boys finished 10th in the regional, falling 55 pins short of placing among the top six and qualifying for the state tourney. Brandt Fleming rolled a 569 series and Matthew Blose a 537 for the Tornado.
Butler's boys finished 9-1 this season and won the North Section title for the second year in a row.