This is How We Roll

Junior Preston Miller takes his national ranking into a promising bowling season alongside teammate, and All State bowler, junior Chase Davis.

Alex Morales
Juniors Preston Miller and Chase Davis wear their bowling shirts and hold their bowling balls. This fall, Miller was ranked fourth in the country for a week.

At Salina Central, sports are undoubtedly a big deal. Walking through the halls, you might hear names of popular athletes such as Israel Torres or Callie Sanborn, but have you heard of Junior Preston Miller, who at one point was the fourth best bowler in the country. 

He has been bowling since the winter of 2016, his freshman year. With dedication and practice, he has quickly became one of the best bowlers in the state of Kansas. Miller practices at The Alley at least three times a week, to keep up with his craft. 

A few weeks ago, Miller went to the bowling alley to bowl a game or two. His goal, to try and get a 300, 12 strikes in a row. As time went by, Miller racked up strike after strike, up until he came to the frame. 

“I couldn’t feel my legs, I was shaking really bad, I couldn’t feel the ball. And then when I finally got the last strike I started crying,” Miller said with a chuckle. “It was embarrassing.” 

Another talented athlete is Junior Chase Davis, who has been an athlete since he was only three years old. Davis has family members who bowled, and were inspired by them to give it a whirl. 

“When I came in as a freshman, we were one of the worst teams in 5A. We were a joke, and I have seen this team turn around so quickly it’s unbelievable,” Davis said.

Just like Miller, Davis also has a huge bowling accomplishments, one being winning a state Pepsi championship a few years back, where he placed first out of 125 other bowlers. 

Both Miller and Davis plan on having future careers in bowling, and hopefully ending up going professional. 

All and all, bowling is a big part of both of these students lives, and has taught them a lot.  

“It has taught me so much, but the most important thing is leadership. No matter what happens you have got to be a leader. When one person is down it brings the whole team down, so I try to hype everyone up no matter how good or bad I am doing,” Davis said.

“When I came in as a freshman, we were one of the worst teams in 5A.”

— Junior Chase Davis