Girls bowling: Warren focuses on now, with long-term goals in mind
The Warren girls bowling team has its game rolling.
The Blue Devils have their sights set on a return trip to state and the chance to follow up on last year's 13th-place finish, which left them just 13 pins shy of bowling in the tournament's second day.
At this point, though, that's looking a bit too far ahead. So Warren is trying to stay focused on what it can achieve before the holiday break.
That in-the-moment mode is working well, too. The Blue Devils are one of the leaders in the North Suburban Conference and they haven't lost a match after the first time around in the league.
Warren kept up the momentum on Wednesday afternoon, sweeping past Libertyville 2,528-2,273 in a dual match in which the Blue Devils won all the points at Lakeside Recreation Center in Mundelein. Warren won all three games - 846-712, 839-791 and 843-770.
The Blue Devils are led by three seniors: Hayley Gregerson (563), Amanda Yoder (529) and Maggie Faje (492).
"The shot was tough out there," Warren coach KC Lange said. "I thought they did a great job. They were making makeable spares, and that's what it's about. Spares are what you have to shoot for, even though strikes are great.
"Honestly, I don't know where we're at, and we're still trying to find ourselves. The seniors have done a really good job this year of working with the other girls. They're still trying to get a feeling of who they are as a team. I've thought they've handled things very well so far."
The other two regular contributors are sophomores Maddison Zeni (455) and Brianna Haith (351, two games). Jocelyn Parra-Avila bowled the final game with a 138.
Gregersen threw consistent games of 172, 201 and 190. She and the other two seniors have been with the Blue Devils since freshman year.
"Our team works hard together and really competes," Gregerson said. "I believe we can definitely be great by the end of the season. I've been trying to inspire the younger bowlers not to worry about state, regionals or sectionals. They just need to give 110 percent with their shots."
For Libertyville, Kennah Porcelius just returned to bowling this week after suffering a concussion in a crossfit class at school, which sidelined her for three weeks. She had a 471 series on Wednesday with a 180 high game after rolling a 484 in her return match Monday.
"I had the concussion in October and originally got cleared for it," Porcelius said. "But then a couple of weeks ago, I got this really bad headache and I went to the ER because it was so bad. They looked at it and they did a bunch of brain scans. They found a swollen pituitary gland. They are thinking it's post-concussion syndrome, and they want to keep track of it.
"I was cleared last Thursday, I was able to get back to practice. I was able to start bowling this week. I've been feeling OK - with some slight headaches, but OK. I really like to bowl and it's fun to be back. I really did miss it a lot. It's better than sitting in bed all day."
Katie Felsl led the Wildcats with a 495. Libertyville's other scores came from Katelyn Kubalanza (467), Kristine Kropp (462) and Allison Friello (378).