Skyline High School's Justin Hazel and Saline's Cheyenne Long won individual regional bowling titles on Saturday, with Hazel coming one pin shy of a 300 game during his Division 2 victory.

Hazel had already thrown three games in the 200s at Parkway Lanes in Trenton, and the scores from the first six frames of his fifth were all identical: X.

The hard-throwing sophomore uncoiled his normal "swing ball," hanging it on the right gutter and waiting for the big curve to take it right into the pocket.

Like in the previous six frames, the ball behaved as instructed, sliding into the pocket and scattering the pins. When it all settled, however, one lone pin stood defiantly, refusing to fall.

Hazel took it down for a spare, the only non-strike of the game as he rolled a 279. It tied his season high and helped propel him to the regional crown with a 1273 series.

"It was very exciting to watch," said Skyline coach Kurt Kaiser. "I think he was a bit too fast in the seventh frame that game. He threw a good ball. I'm just tickled pink by how well he did."

Hazel's brother, Zach, missed qualifying for next Saturday's Division 2 state individual finals at Super Bowl in Canton by 86 pins.

Across the state, at Lansing's Pro Bowl, Saline's Long threw a first-game 158 in a Division 1 regional. Not bad, but it left some work to be done in the final five games.

Not a problem for Long, who last year made it to the round of 16 at the state finals. She came back and threw four straight games in the 200s, highlighted by a 237 in the fourth game, to finish with a 1248 series, high enough to win the regional title for the girls... and the boys.

Long's teammate on the boys team, senior Aaron Ohl, tied for eighth in the regional, qualifying him for states with an 1147 series. All but one of the Saline boys finished in the top 25, including sophomore Neko Robinson who missed qualifying for states by nine pins.

Other local boys qualifying for states in Division 1 were Mike Harrington of Pioneer, who took seventh with an 1167 series. Devon Micou of Huron tied with Saline's Ohl for eighth with a 1147. The finals are at Battle Creek's M-66 Bowl next Saturday.

The bowling team finals will be played next Friday. The Saline boys were the only Washtenaw County team to advance from team regionals.

"We're extremely proud of our kids," Saline coach Jeff Rishel said. "Cheyenne had some bad breaks in her first game but really came back and found her 'A' game, and the boys all did really well."