Meridian High School’s bowling teams competed against Brandon on Thursday for the Wildcats’ last home match this season. Meridian’s boys A team lost its match 1704-1369, but two of the Meridian program’s top bowlers were celebrated afterward for their contributions to the team during senior night.

Jabralen McClendon is Meridian’s first bowler to compete from freshman year to senior year, and Jamario McNeil has become a contributor on the A team after joining the team as a senior. Meridian coach Kaleigh Covington said both seniors are great kids and great bowlers with great personalities.

“I hate it so much because they are such a big aspect of our team,” Covington said on seeing her seniors play their last home match for Meridian. “But, then again, I’m so excited for them because now they get to blossom.”

McClendon said bowling for Meridian has been a good experience, and it has helped him stay out of trouble. The senior, who left baseball to bowl for Meridian, said he would do it all over again.

“Jabralen, he’s almost like another coach out here for us, everything from the technical stuff to the motivational stuff,” Meridian assistant coach Mark Davis said. “That’s the biggest thing that we’re going to miss from him, and the fact that he’s really, really good.”

McNeil had not previously participated in any clubs or activities at Meridian High School, but he decided to try out for bowling as a senior. He said he has come to really love bowling, and it has been a great opportunity for him to participate in a fun extracurricular activity.

“About a month ago, I told coach Covington, ‘If the season was to end today, (McNeil) would by far be our most improved player,’” Davis said. “From where he started at tryouts to today, it’s amazing, and I really wish he would have played all these years, all four years, just to kind of see where he’d be.”

Davis said a little bit of sadness hit him when he saw the senior night baskets and balloons at the end of Thursday’s match because he realized that it would be the last time these seniors competed for their school at Meridian’s Event Zona. Both seniors expressed a desire to continue bowling after high school, and Covington said they both may have a chance to compete for a college team.