For Morgan Stabel, bowling seems right up her alley.
Stabel is back home after representing the NWT at the Youth Bowl Canada (YBC) National Five-Pin Championships in Ottawa from May 6 to 8. While she may have left without too many expectations for herself, she seemed to do alright. So much so that she is the Canadian champion in the senior girls division for 2024.
It's the first gold medal in youth five-pin for the NWT in 22 years. The last time was in 2002 when Cole Bouchard won the senior boy's singles division.
"I knew that I had a fairly good chance this year," Stabel said. "One of my goals was to medal, but I wasn't expecting anything going in."
Stabel isn't exactly a stranger to this tournament, either. It's her second year competing in the senior girls singles, following her appearance in 2023.
She added that she has been bowling in this tournament for years.
The format saw each bowler play a double round-robin with two games against each competitor. Each match won was worth one point and whoever had the most points after the final matches would be declared the winner.
Despite her success, Stabel said she never had a clue what place she was in for the entire tournament.
"I wasn't checking scores," she admitted.
Stabel said it takes the pressure off, not focusing on the numbers. It also made for quite the reaction when she had finally found out she won.
It didn't exactly come down to a final showdown for the title. Stabel said she needed another girl from Alberta to lose her game for her to snag gold. Otherwise, she'd have to play that particular girl for the medal.
The Alberta girl in question, Mikayla Sanderson of Calgary, lost, giving Stabel the gold.
"I actually wasn't there when they finished the game," she said. "I came out of the bathroom and everyone was cheering."
Stabel's season is now over, but she said she'll keep her game sharp, and hope for another national event in 2025.
As for being the first NWT bowler in more than two win bowling gold, Stabel said it's something she is definitely proud of. That said, it came at a bit of a cost: plenty of homework.
"I missed a full week of school," said Stabel, noting she's got an essay that needs writing as well as an upcoming math test.
Stabel said she's pretty much got it when it comes to catching up, though.