READING, Pa. (Oct. 22, 2011) – The Saint Francis University bowling team notched a fifth place finish in the 13-team field in today's KU Baker Invitational hosted by Kutztown.

"This is the first time this group worked together in a tournament,” head coach Tom Falbo said. “This group got better and better throughout the day because of how strong their team play was. They bowled as one. Our communication was great and their patience showed how much confidence they had in their own ability. In the fifth match, we had the highest baker pinfall among all teams and the second highest in match six. We'll take this into tomorrow and aim to pick up where we left off."

This weekend's competition consists of two, separate individual tournaments with the Red Flash sporting a 5-1 record during today's six quad-baker matches. To declare a winner in quad-baker, each team is matched up bowling four baker games, with high total pinfall at the end being the determining factor.

In its first match of the afternoon, the Red Flash fell 757-710 to Howard, but managed five consecutive wins in a row to close out the day. SFU overtook Tulane 703-553 to even its record at one and from there earned wins over Coppin State (687-570), Penn State-Altoona (713-635), Salem International (794-495), and Hampton (746-704).

Kutztown took the top team spot by rolling a tournament-high 4,553. Adelphi, Saint Peters and Long Island rounded out the remainder of the top five squads. Saint Francis finished one pin shy of tying LIU for fourth place.

Two members of the Red Flash, freshman Christina Leid (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) and sophomore Heidi Baumert (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X), picked up All-Tournament team honors. The All-Tournament team consists of the six bowlers in the tournament with the highest baker frame average. Leid recorded an average of 19.25, while Baumert registered a 19.21 average.

"Christina's performance got so strong from the middle of the set until the end and her filled frame percentage was 91.3%, which is fantastic bowling. Her contribution was great toward our cause,” Falbo said. “Heidi was due and I couldn't be happier for her. She had two near misses for All-Tournament teams last year and I'm so pleased with how she has used her patience as the key to her development. Her consistency is now being seen at higher levels of play as her strike ball is now more effective as she has become more versatile with ball selection and line play."

Saint Francis hits Berks Lanes once again tomorrow afternoon to compete in a separate day of competition with five traditional game matches at the KU Baker Invitational.