No kidding: Schaffner's 536 series leads Fremd to win

Isaly Schaffner may be considered the "kid" of the Fremd girls bowling team but there's no kidding around when it comes to her game.

Schaffner, the only sophomore among the Vikings' starting five and "the only one who can't drive", in her words, led Fremd to a big Mid-Suburban League victory on Thursday night at Arlington Lanes.

She fired a 536 series, the best of the match, as Fremd defeated Wheeling 9-0.

Schaffner was ultra-consistent with top games of 198 and 181.

"It's like I've got four big sisters," Schaffner said of her teammates, of which there are two seniors and two juniors. "I love this team. It's exciting to be on varsity, and we all get along so well."

Schaffner honed her bowling skills in Wisconsin before moving to the area and joining the Vikings squad.

"We're a close team, and that makes it easier," she said. "It helps to be close if you want to have a great season."

Caryn Bova, one of the Vikings coaches, says there's a lot to like about the budding star.

"Isaly brings a lot of spirit to the team," Bova said. "And she's an extremely hard worker. She's a great listener and has made tremendous strides this year. Isaly has set some strong goals for herself, and she's very coachable."

The Fremd seniors, Stephanie Judkins and Maddie Ostoich, contributed to the win with series marks of 512 apiece.

Ostoich admitted that it was nice to get a victory - although in the less-than-cutthroat world of prep bowling, not at the expense of the Wildcats.

"It's great to win," Ostoich said. "But no matter who the competition is, I'm always taking time to cheer for the other team whenever I can."

Ostoich was recruited for the Fremd bowling team by coach Ruben Hinojosa, who is also a golf coach.

Hinojosa recognized the athletic ability of Ostoich on the links and suggested she give the lanes a try.

It couldn't have worked out better for the senior or the Vikings.

"I got into it (bowling) just to have fun, and I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did," Ostoich said. "I struggled as a freshman to break 100, so to see how far I've come since then and the major improvement I've made has been awesome."

With one of her favorite subjects being psychology, Ostoich has college plans but for right now wants to focus on her senior season and going out with a bang.

"I hope I can be someone the younger kids look up to, even though they all (her teammates) have a lot of experience themselves," she said. "I've got four years under my belt and I want to make my last year my best."

It was a good night all around for the MSL West as Conant scored an emphatic upset win over Rolling Meadows in the night's other matchup.

The Cougars outpinned Meadows 2,563 to 2,236, to win all three games.

"This team has a lot of potential," said Cougars coach Jennifer Mikrut of her squad. "I let them know before the match that Rolling Meadows is a really good tea, and we had to be more consistent if we wanted to win.

"We spent a lot of time in practice this week working on picking up our spares in different types of situations and the kids really took it to heart. We've got a great group of girls this year."

Conant got a great performance at Arlington from freshman Lyz White, who started the Cougars off on the right foot with a 232 first game. She didn't stop, following up with games of 201 and 176.

The funny thing is, White didn't even learn that she'd be on varsity this year until the team was getting off the bus en route to their first game.

"It was amazing," White said. "I was so surprised."

She said the key to her stellar performances this year has been motivation."

"We support each on other on this team and pick each other up," White said. "We show a lot of spirit."

Cassie Hyland rolled a 202 game for Conant. Teammate Katie Elms bowled a 176 while Gayle Stanford, the Cougars senior leader, had a 209 game and 557 series.

"We earned nine points today, and that will really help us in conference," Stanford said. "Everyone on the team has been doing a great job this year."

Stanford hopes to continue her bowling career at the next level - in college next year - but that's not her main agenda.

"I'd like to keep bowling, but if it happens, it happens," Stanford said. "I'm going to be more focused on my studies."