APPLETON - Carthage College women's bowling team earned a commendable third-place finish at the Titan Invitational in Appleton, Wisconsin, hosted by Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Bowlero Super Bowl.

The tournament began with five traditional games on day one. Carthage opened with a 756-594 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a 712-782 loss to Marian (Wis.). The Firebirds bounced back to defeat Wisconsin-Eau Claire 763-702 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee 734-555 before narrowly falling to eventual champion Wisconsin 791-832. The Firebirds concluded the day with a 3-2 record, placing them in third.

On day two, Carthage competed in four sets of four Baker games. The team tied Iowa State 568-568 in the first set, secured a 595-554 win against Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the second, edged out Wisconsin 640-635 in the third, and narrowly lost to Iowa State 634-637 in the final set, finishing the day 2-1-1.

The final segment featured best-of-three Baker match play, where Carthage faced Marian (Wis.). The Firebirds claimed the first game 179-161 but dropped the second 154-217. In a closely contested third game, Carthage took the lead after three consecutive strikes but struggled with four open frames in the last five, ultimately losing 152-198.

Sophomore Maxine Lathrop averaged 168 across four games, while junior Isabel Gonzalez maintained a 161 average over five games, missing All-Tournament honors by just 30 pins.

Carthage now looks ahead to hosting the SFA Classic at Sheridan Lanes next weekend, where they will face strong competition from top teams across the nation.