Crawl. Walk. Bowl.

That is how things went for Cedar Rapids Washington senior Quincy Bruce, or at least something very close to that.

Bruce, who will attend Grand View College and join the bowling team there next year, began bowling at age 4, or has he put it, “pretty much as soon as I could pick up a ball.”

Bruce grew up watching his family bowl, so it was only natural that he started as soon as he could. He credits his family for getting him started with bowling and he has a special appreciation for his parents' role in his development.

“My parents definitely had a big role,” he said. “Coach (Monica) Reeves and John Staub were very helpful, too.”

Now years later after getting on the lanes with his family, a lifetime of bowling has led Bruce to the record books.

Friday night in a match against Waterloo East, Bruce set school records with a 290 game and a 539 series. It was the first 500 series in Warrior history.

“I wasn’t looking at the scoreboard. I just tried to repeat my shot,” he said. “I was really just trying to pick up everybody on the team. I didn’t know about the record until after.”

“He found his mark and rolled it,” Washington Coach Reeves said. “He spared the first frame and then finished with 11 straight strikes.”

The day after Bruce’s big night, he helped his teammates take fifth at Prairie’s Baker Tournament at Lancer Lanes on Saturday afternoon.

Bruce and Reeves like how the team is doing and feel good about the future. “We should be sitting good,” Reeves said.

The tournament, which featured all seven of the Metro schools that have bowling teams, came down to a pair of Wamac Conference clubs. The Marion Indians were defeated by DeWitt Central for the title and the Sabers went home champions.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson finished right behind the Indians in third place, coming all the way back through the loser’s bracket after an early setback. Both of the J-Hawks' defeats came against DeWitt Central.

Cedar Rapids Prairie finished tied for fifth with the Warriors. The three other Metro schools bowed out early in the day.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Xavier suffered two straight loses and were eliminated early. Linn-Mar managed one win before a fairly early exit of its own.