KENNEWICK — The Kennewick Lions earned their seventh trip to state in nine years with a second-place finish in the 3A/2A competition at the District 5/6 girls bowling championship Friday at Spare Time Lanes.

Selah edged the Lions by 94 pins to take the 3A/2A title and the first of two available state berths. Moses Lake rolled a 3,639 to walk away with the 4A championship and the division's sole ticket to the state finals scheduled to begin Thursday at Narrows Plaza Bowl in Tacoma.

Kennewick had three girls place among the top eight in the 3A/2A race, with Daicee Singer third overall with 532 pins. Karissa Shiflet tied Selah's Taylor Jones for fifth with a 524, and Megan Weir finished a pin back in seventh.

"I was very proud of them," Kennewick coach Oscar Garnica said of his team. "They did well the first three games and were up by 56 pins (against West Valley). The bakers didn't turn out as well as we hoped, but they kept fighting through it."

Danielle Gonzales rolled games of 195 and 209 as Kennewick swept Moses Lake 4-0 in a nonleaguer at Spare Time Lanes.

At Spare Time Lanes

Scratch -- Game 1: Kennewick 762 (Evelyn Arroyo 159, Daicee Singer 126, Xochitl Garcia 119, Danielle Gonzales 195, Karissa Shiflet 163), Moses Lake 719 (Zhane Serrano 161, Liz Bushere 101, Alli Clemons 141, Breanne Garry 164, Jessica Craig 152). Game 2: Kennewick 781 (Arroyo 89, Singer 144, Garcia 160, Gonzales 209, Shiflet 179), Moses Lake 685 (Serrano 147, Bushere 124, Clemons 138, Garry 146, Craig 130).

Baker -- Game 1: Kennewick 151, Moses Lake 148. Game 2: Kennewick 177, Moses Lake 161.

Total pins--Kennewick 1,871. Moses Lake 1,713.

KENNEWICK — Kennewick High School junior Karissa Shiflet is an ambitious young woman.

She is author of several well-received social observation articles for the school newspaper, Lions Roar, and she is taking the required steps towards a future in pharmacology with special attention on succeeding in International Baccalaureate classes, which provide the requisite foundation towards a career choice in the medical field.

But when it is just her, a Storm Prodigy bowling ball in her hands, and the 10 taunting pins in the daunting distance, Shiflet enters another zone altogether

"I really enjoy bowling," Shiflet said. "It is a mental game, and also really fun. It helps me stay calm, and helps me with more than just sports."

She acquiesces that bowling is not going to hit a target heart rate or work the core, but says that the sport has long-term academic value.

"You don't stay fit bowling, but take stuff from bowling, and take it into school. Whenever I have a lot of homework, or a big test, it helps me stay calm."

And with a 3.6 GPA alongside international baccalaureate (IB) courses in Spanish, literature, pre-calculus, chemistry and history -- with a bull's-eye painted on biology next -- you would be hard pressed to proffer a convincing argument against the fact that bowling grants its practitioners an intensified focus.

But that's not all. As a three-sport athlete (soccer, bowling, softball) Shiflet has learned much in how to deal with people and situations.

"It helps me improve my social skills," she said of her team sports experiences. "It's easier to get along with girls and take a leadership position, know what to say.

"I'm the type of person who pleases everyone. If somebody is down, I want to cheer them up."

It's that empathy that has fueled her attitude on sportsmanship.