Warren's Thul solid fifth after 2 rounds

ROCKFORD -- Pressure? What pressure.

You'd never know that Warren's Dani Thul and Wauconda's Allie Payne were making their first appearances at the IHSA state girls bowling tournament based on their performances Friday.

Thul tossed a 1,314 series -- a solid 219 average -- over the six games in the first two rounds. That put Thul in fifth place in the individual standings heading into today's third and final rounds.

Vanessa Wells of Salem leads the tournament with 1,371.

In her first three games, Thul rolled 223, 234 and 236 for a 693 series. She followed with 227, 198 and 196 for a 621.

"I was able to keep calm and I was able to throw some real good games," Thul said. "It was good to bowl with a bunch of girls that were real happy out there. It all depends who you bowl with and they were real nice.

"I was hoping top 30 coming in, but now I'm seeing top five. I didn't expect to be that high. If I can end up top 10, I'd be extremely happy."

Payne, the first Wauconda bowler to qualify for the state meet, totaled 1,241. She shot games of 199, 255 and 207 for a 661 series and was 10th after the morning round. She added games of 207,206 and 167 for a 580 in the afternoon and is 24th in the standings..

"It's really indescribable and I've never imagined this many people watching," Payne said. "In the beginning, it was nerveracking, then everything calmed down. I guess bowling good helped out a lot. Apple juice is the big thing."

Stevenson's Jenn Lasky and Alyssa Dougherty of Vernon Hills advanced to today's third round.

Lasky rolled a 1,220 and is in 30th place. She shot 626 and 594 for the six games, including high of 221 and 222.

"I had to work a lot of this last week," said Lasky, who qualified for the state meet last year but advanced to the second day for the first time. "Making it as a team helped out more than last year and made it more comfortable."

Dougherty made the cut by 20 pins with an 1,163 (49th). Dougherty had series of 556 and a 607 with a high of 237.

In the team standings, Schaumburg leads with 6,041 -- 8 pins better than Rockford Jefferson. Hoffman Estates is third with 5,913 in the 24-team field.

Stevenson (5,514) finished 16th, 89 pins shy of qualifying for today's third round.

Vernon Hills was a spot back, in 17th with 5,433.