Rolling Meadows reigns at Maxell
What better way to celebrate more than 20 years of the Ray Maxwell Sabre Holiday Bowling Invitational than with a guest appearance from the tournament celebrity himself, Ray Maxwell.
Maxwell came out to help run the 30-team tournament.
Rolling Meadows came out to take the team title.
And the Mustangs succeeded.
Since taking over the helm of the Meadows girl's bowling program in 1999, coach Karen Ellingsworth has been looking for a repeat.
The Mustangs won the invitational in 1999 and have finished among the Top 5 every year since -- and they added another crown Saturday.
Led by seniors Lauren Jacobs (1,154), Jillian Kola (1,105) and Jackie Carberty (1,118) -- who each finished among the Top-10 individuals -- the Mustangs rolled up a 5,319 pin count, more than enough to win the event.
"It was definitely a team effort," Ellingsworth said. "Our three strongest bowlers all came through for us. Everybody was consistent the entire day. Having been so close for the past couple of years, we came in hoping to win it."
The Mustangs clinched the win by recording a combined 965 in the final set, the second-highest game of the day.
"We went out and got it with that last game," Ellingsworth said. "It was great."
The highest game of the tournament came from Grant in Round 2 -- 980 -- which helped the Bulldogs lead the event after three games with a 2,603.
The Bulldogs finished fourth in the final team standings, knocking down 5,097 pins.
"The morning went really well," said Grant coach Beth Miller. "Lydia Wells bowled a 230 for us, and Brianna Brugioni broke a school record for a six-game series, knocking down 1,185 pins.
"For us to come up here and compete with some of the bigger schools this well is a huge accomplishment. This is the best finish we've ever had at this invitational."
The Bulldogs' Brugioni took second place with a 1,185.
"Coming in, we wanted to bowl well as a team," said Brugioni. "I wanted to place so it was really exciting to finish second. I was very surprised."
DeKalb (5,141) took second place, followed closely by Schaumburg with 5,137 pins behind individual champion Danielle Kappel.
After the morning session, Kappel sat in the No. 8 slot, but she pulled up her average in the afternoon by knocking down 1,193 pins en route to the title.
"I just came to bowl," said Kappel. "I felt great all day. I just relaxed and had a lot of fun. I was really excited to win it, but what was really great was seeing our team do so well."
Last year's Lake Park sectional champion, Shauna Pauly (1,157) of Hersey, placed third.
Buffalo Grove (4,691) saw some peaks and valleys, finishing 14th. BG's Anna-Marie Gorro (1,075) finished 16th individually with a 233.
Bolingbrook's Deanna Ptak had the high series with a 654 and Morton's Jenn Baran rolled the high game of 258.