The state champion W.F. West Girls Bowling team and coaches stand in the council chambers at the Chehalis city council meeting on Monday afternoon.
Mayor Dennis Dawes congratulates the Bearcats Bowling team on their state championship.
Mayor Dennis Dawes congratulates the Bearcats Bowling team on their state championship.
The team members listens as Mayor Dennis Dawes congratulates the Bearcats Bowling team on their state championship.
The W.F. West Girls Bearcats Bowling Team won their first state championship in the 1A/2A division on Friday, Feb. 7 in Tacoma and in congratulations, the Chehalis city council, and Mayor Dennis Dawes, presented a proclamation to the team in honor of their historic win at the city council meeting Monday afternoon.
“We certainly want to offer our congratulations to you. State championships are not something we see every day. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishment. You represented the city well, you represented your school well, and you represented yourself well,” Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes said to the team.
The members of the championship bowling team attended the meeting along with their coaches and several athlete’s parents to listen to and accept the proclamation. The W.F. West 2020 Bearcat Bowling Team members include Piper Chalmers, Kelsey Stritmatter, Brianna Powe, Ellie Bunker, Jessica Loflin, Cami Aldrich, and Clara Bunker.
“It’s always a pleasure for us to welcome state champions from Chehalis into the council chambers and to read a proclamation to them, recognizing their great accomplishment and this team did it in their third year of existence. That’s quite an accomplishment,” Dawes said.
W.F. West High School decided in 2016 to add girls competitive bowling to their list of sports in the next, 2017-2018, school year. The team did not qualify for state in their first year but by the team’s second year in 2019, the girls earned third place and in 2020 they won the state championship.
The three coaches of the winning bowling team attended the council meeting to accept the proclamation — Don Bunker, the team’s head coach, and Rich Bunker and Chehalis City Councilor Bob Spahr, the assistant coaches.
The proclamation summarized the bowling team’s fruition and the hard work and dedication the team has to developing a winning culture for the W.F. West Girls Bowling team. Dawes congratulated the girls on behalf of the citizens of Chehalis.
“The girls have gone from, let’s say, not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time to a state championship team in just three years. I wish you say it’s great coaching but it’s not, it’s great kids with the desire to do something, I bet not too many teams have done, to take a state championship in three years — a lot of credit to you kids,” said Spahr said the meeting.
