ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Iowa Central women's bowling team captured their first-ever invitational title here this past weekend at the Golden Eagle.

The Triton men added to the strong showing with a third place finish overall behind a gold medal performance by Raymond Wiegand.

For the Iowa Central women, Olivia Nolte was the individual runner-up with teammate Leah Sanck placing fourth. The Tritons rolled a 4,612 to finish ahead of Clarke, Iowa Western and Coe. 

Nolte fired a 985 with a high-mark of 207 while Sanck had a 954 that included a 213 game. Samantha Wangen recorded a 933 series with a 200. 

"Not only was this the first time we've won an invite, but the first time we've had two all-tournament team selections in Olivia (second) and Leah (fourth)," Iowa Central head coach Gregg Haden said. "The women really showed team unity and that is what we need in every performance.

"We cannot take any shot off and need to continue to focus and concentrate on every shot so we can win a national championship. We are headed in the right direction to accomplish this."

Leading the way for the Triton men was Wiegand, who placed first overall. His teammate, Jacob Kraft, cracked the Top-5 by finishing fifth. Wiegand had a 1,045 series that included a high-game of 226. 

Kraft rolled a 1,010 with a high-game of 224.  

"The men were very close to the No. 1 team in the nation," Haden said. "Jacob and Ray had wonderful meets."

Wisconsin-Whitewater was the men's team champion followed by Iowa Western and Iowa Central. The Tritons had a team total of 4,636 in the 10-team field. 

Iowa Central returns to action on Saturday in Cedar Rapids at the Kohawk Invitational.

-By Dana Becker