Girls bowling: Sanchez-Corrillo excels; Hoffman, Schaumburg earn trophies
Sonia Sanchez-Corrillo isn't about to let cerebral palsy stop her from achieving her goals.
At Saturday's IHSA girls bowling state finals in Rockford, the Elk Grove sophomore showed that she has the heart and soul of a champion.
Sanchez-Corrillo shot a day-long series of 502 to win the third-place medal in the wheelchair division at Cherry Bowl Lanes.
"It's been a lot of work," Sanchez-Corrillo said. "But it's something amazing."
"She's a great kid," said Grenadiers coach Robert Ray. "No matter what, she's always got a smile on her face."
In the general division, both Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg rallied to take home trophies, with the Hawks finishing second and the Saxons placing third.
Machesney Park Harlem won its second consecutive championship and seventh overall.
Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg needed big final games to move into trophy position, and both came through.
The Hawks threw a 1,013 sixth game on Saturday to move into contention while the Saxons counted 905 pins.
"I knew it was really tight," said Hoffman junior Emilie St. Clair of the fight to make the top three. "We did the best we could."
St. Clair had games of 236 and 206 Saturday to help lead the Hawks' charge.
"In the last game, we had to give every ounce of effort we could give," St. Clair added. "It's amazing, absolutely amazing. I could not be prouder of my team."
Schaumburg junior Kylie Frick, the Mid-Suburban League champion, paced the Saxons. She threw games of 256 and 215 in the afternoon to finish seventh individually with a two-day average of 209.7.
Saxons junior Taylor Davis fired a 236 in the afternoon to contribute to the hardware-winning effort while sophomore Lily Meck had a 237 in the morning session.
"I wanted to come in with a positive attitude today and everyone wanted to bowl as a team and not just as individuals," Meck said. "It was a bit of a struggle at times but we came through at the end."
"Exciting and gut-wrenching, that's about all I can say about today," said Schaumburg coach Mark Kelly. "I give the kids credit - they stayed the course. We talked about everybody picking each other up and not paying attention to anything else, and they did that today."
Jenica Baron of Barrington finished 21st individually with a two-day total of 2,397 pins.
For Hoffman Estates, Alexis Orwat bowled a 256 game, and her total pinfall of 2,547 saw her win the fourth-place individual medal.
Hawks senior Kelly Paradowski shot games of 236 and 226 while classmate Allura Magsino pitched in with a consistent 535-566-1,101 on Saturday.
Magsino was able to shake off a bowling-hand injury suffered in sectionals to contribute.
"I wasn't even supposed to be bowling because my hand wouldn't cooperate," said Magsino. "I had to change up my whole entire throw. We really wanted that trophy so I kept pushing through, icing my hand, and resting it. It really hurt but I kept pushing and it led us to second place."
The performance of Sanchez-Corrillo, however, was the Cinderella story of the state finals.
Grens coach Ray had been trying to get Sanchez-Corrillo to join the squad for quite a while. Although she is involved in various other clubs and organizations at Elk Grove, she decided to give the bowling team a try.
The rest is history as the sophomore's season culminated in a state medal.
"Coach Ray was trying to get me out since last year," Sanchez-Corillo said. "But I always denied him. I was interested in robotics and that's why I didn't do bowling."
But the sophomore decided to join the team after taking part in bowling activities during homecoming.
"I'm open to new opportunities," Sanchez-Corrillo said. "And that's why I decided to join the bowling team. For my junior year I might be interested in something else - maybe try a club that I might not know - or just to try a new opportunity."
But the sophomore added she definitely wants to continue her bowling career.
"She's always been into clubs, activities and volunteering," said Sanchez-Corrillo's sister, Ruby. "We would always go bowling on Sunday and she really liked it. We're really proud of her and she's just amazing."