Freeport senior bowler Julia Cummings was waiting for a performance of the like she put on at the WPIBL singles championships Thursday. Luckily for her, it came at the right time, as she placed first in the tournament.

“I really haven’t been doing the greatest in high school (this season),” Cummings said. “I had a 192 average and I had above-200 averages last year and the year before.”

Cummings soundly defeated Kiski Area’s Veronica Flanagan, 241-179, in the step ladder bracket’s finals. Flanagan ousted Butler junior Kelsee McConnell by a 181-178 score in the quarterfinals.

McConnell’s 246 in Game 2 of qualifiers was among the highest of the event. Another Yellowjacket, junior Mackensie Livingston, fell just six points short of the qualifying cut off.

Cummings felt she struggled some in the first game of qualifiers, in which she rolled a 174. The two after that, she improved, putting up scores of 196 and 214.

“The first three games were just kind of trying to figure it out,” Cummings said. “The third game, I kind of picked it up a little bit, I found where I needed to play, and I kind of just stuck with it.”

She sweated it out waiting to see if her name would be included with those that made the cut. When she made, it she ran with the opportunity. She ran away with a matchup against Norwin’s Kali Siegel in the quarterfinals (247-171) and edged out Apollo Ridge’s Mia Ament, 202-194, in the semis.