Sixteen Oak Harbor women recently proved they are some of the best female bowlers in the state.

The local group participated in the Washington State Women’s Bowling Tournament, held eight weekends, April through May, at Daffodil Lanes in Puyallup.

Overall there were more than 1,800 women from around the state who bowled in the tournament, which featured team, doubles and singles competition.

The local 16, which went by the names of Island Girls, Island Girls 2, Island Alley Cats and Island Team Turkey took several high team finishes, including two first places.

Bette Kohlenberger was the individual star, placing first in her singles and all-events divisions. She was also on both first place teams.

In addition to the four first places, the Oak Harbor women received prize money in several other events, including: a 4th, 5th and 8th place finish in team events; a 15th, 19th, 27th & 28th place finish in doubles; 8th and 15th place finishes in the all-events category and 43rd and 46th place finish in the singles events.

Team organizer Rosemary Kunow felt the event couldn’t have gone any better.

“I have bowled in three Washington state tournaments and several California state tournaments and I have never seen a group of women do so well — especially from a small town,” she said. “Everyone had a lot of fun and they’re ready for next year in Spokane.”