Health & Fitness

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SPORTS

Hitting Her Mark

Focus on bowling pays off
for ex-basketball player.

Steve Stein
Special to the Jewish News

S

arah Nagel plans to attend
Northwood University in
Midland, where she'll pursue
a degree in sports and entertain-
ment marketing. Her dream job after
graduation from college is to work in
marketing for the National Basketball
Association.
"I love basketball, and I love the
NBA," said Nagel, a senior at Waterford
Kettering High School. But she gave up
the sport after playing it for two years at
Kettering so she could concentrate on
knocking down pins for the Kettering
girls bowling team.
It was a wise move. Nagel twice helped
Kettering make it to the team corn-
petition in the Michigan High School
Athletic Association's Division 1 state
tournament and win the Northern Lakes
Conference championship three times
during her four-year prep career. Her
career average in high school was 189.
Kettering advanced to the "Elite 8"
match play finals in this year's state
tournament in Muskegon by finishing
eighth among 18 teams in the qualifying
round. Nagel bowled 213-185-222 in
the round.
Davison beat Kettering 1634-1570 in
match play. Davison lost in the semifi-
nals to eventual state champion South
Lyon. While Nagel and her teammates
were disappointed, they weren't in the
gutter afterwards. "There was no reason
to hang our heads after finishing among
the top eight in the state she said.
Besides the state tournaments and
conference championships, Nagel will
remember her years on the Kettering
bowling team for another reason.
"It was a lot of fun bowling for
Kettering because we were a close-knit
team and everyone supported each
other."
Nagel bowled for Detroit for four
years in the JCC Maccabi Games. In
the summer of 2006, Nagel carried
the Detroit banner in the opening
ceremonies for the Phoenix Games at
U.S. Airways Center. She won two gold
medals and one silver medal in the
girls ages 15-16 bowling competition
in Scottsdale.

Sarah

Nagel: Prep
average of
189.

A few months later, Nagel had a
chance to meet and bowl with one
of her favorite professional athletes,
Professional Bowlers Association Hall of
Famer Pete Weber.
That took place at a pro-am event
held the day before the PBA Tour's
Motor City Classic. Nagel beat Weber
216-210."But Pete had bowled all day
and didn't make it to the tournament
finals, so I'm sure he looked our game as
a practice game Nagel said."I thought
I'd be intimidated, a nervous wreck, and
I wouldn't even be able to hold onto the
ball. But it was an amazing experience.
Pete was very polite. It was like bowling
with a friend. We even exchanged high
fives after a couple of my strikes!'
Nagel hopes to start a bowling team at
Northwood. Even if she doesn't, bowling
will be a part of her life. "I'm sure I'll still
be bowling when I'm 80," the 17-year-
old said.

Big Ben
Birmingham Groves High School grad
Ben Agosto and skating partner Tallith
Belbin, winners of five consecutive U.S.
championships in ice dancing, will try to
make history this month.
Agosto, 26, and Belbin 23, will
compete in the World Figure Skating
Championships March 17-23 in
Gothenburg, Sweden. Their goal: Win
America's first world championship in
ice dancing.
They won silver at the 2006 Olympics.
They've been skating together 10
years, currently train in Canton and
they've been regular members of the
Champions on Ice tour for three seasons.
Agosto graduated with honors from
Groves in 2000. He played in the high
school's jazz band. ❑

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j k YC1/4

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Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com .

March 13 2008

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