Leyden’s Hall takes third place at state
ROCKORD — Leyden sophomore Reba Hall capped a terrific season by winning the third-place individual medal at Saturday’s girls bowling state tournament.
Hall’s two day total of 2,671 pins knocked down saw her finish just 93 behind winner Morgan Flaherty of Lincoln-Way West.
The sophomore’s standout effort helped lead the Eagles, who midway through the day had rallied to third place less than 100 pins behind the leaders, to a sixth-place team placement.
Andrew won the team state crown, following the lead of the boys program two weeks prior.
“The way Reba performed this weekend didn’t surprise me at all,” said Leyden coach Chris Aylward. “She’s that good.”
Leyden freshman Ashley Kriston impressed with a 2,501 two-day total, the best score of any frosh at the tourney, while junior Danielle Trevino (2414), sophomore Erika Pimentel (2367), and senior Sara Danek also made significant contributions to the Eagles’ success.
“We struggled a little bit in the last two games today,” said Aylward, “but the girls have a lot to be proud of — they were outstanding. I think they’re going to look back on what we did here and realize that it was something special.”
Another underclassman, sophomore Sarah Wille from Hoffman Estates, made a big push up the ladder Saturday with six games over 200 (including a high game of 259) to vault into 16th place overall.
Meanwhile, two stellar Elk Grove seniors capped off tremendous careers with solid finishes at the meet at Cherry Bowl Lanes.
Ashley Dolce, who fired a high game of 237 at Saturday’s tourney finale, said it was hard to believe that her days of prep competition were coming to an end.
“It doesn’t feel like it,” said Dolce. “Near the end of the day I turned to one of my teammates and said, ‘You know, this is the last high school game we’ll ever bowl.’ It’s unbelievable.
“We faced a lot of challenges at this tournament, but we came out the better for it. I feel fortunate to finish my career with great teammates like this.”
Classmate Tedra Tado, who was fifth at Cherry Bowl a year ago, had the top overfall performance for the Grens with a 2,418.
“It was bittersweet today, because we wanted to make it to the second day as a team,” said Tado, “but we fell a little short.”
Elk Grove ended Day 1 in a tie for 12th position with Belleville West. Since only the top 12 teams moved on to Saturday’s action, the Grens were forced into a 2-frame playoff Friday with Belleville and was just edged out by West.
“It was intense,” said Elk Grove coach Kim Sander, “but I think the girls handled the pressure well. I’m extremely proud of them.”