Lake Parks' Keith enjoying national acclaim
It was a long, hard lane to the top for Lake Park's Adam Keith.
What the sophomore bowler did this summer was win his division of the national Pepsi Youth Championships at Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling, Mich., in July.
His early prospects looked nearly as good as nailing a 7-10 split.
Bowling in a qualifier in Elgin to reach the state finals, the 15-year-old Keith - whose twin brother, Ryan, was one of four freshman competing at the IHSA tourney in 2008 - finished 40th out of 40 qualifiers.
But once in, Adam took off.
"My game just got a lot better. I got some coaching and straightened out a lot of things and I practiced a lot," said Keith, who credited a battery of coaches including his father, Craig, and Lake Park's Bob Lauesen, Greg Edwards and John Hobscheid.
Keith cruised to second place at the state level in Peoria to reach the finals in Detroit. There he finished the first day in first place and came back to go 5-0 in double-elimination match play.
Through five frames of the championship match he was down by 40 pins. Seven straight strikes earned a comeback win, 241-226.
Twin brother Ryan may be an even better bowler than the national champion. Ryan may have missed the Pepsi state competition by about 20 points, but he just bowled a 300 game at their home lanes in Glendale Heights.
"My brother was cheering for me all along," Adam said, "because I was cheering for him in the state finals when he was bowling and I wasn't."
National prominence also has a female face. Downers Grove South senior Katie Jones, who earned an at-large bid to the 2008 IHSA bowling finals, won her division at the Pepsi Youth Championships as well.
"Bowling for fun" this summer, she said, the regular at Lisle Lanes had a similar arc Adam Keith enjoyed: she got better and better.
At the state level she went from 15th to fifth and then to third. At the nationals in Detroit she reached the top eight, and then her mother Rae Ann grabbed her arm, hard, yelled at her to watch the TV monitor. Katie was in first.
In the climactic round she also went 5-0, beginning her championship match with eight strikes in nine frames and knocking down 262 pins.
Upon her return neighborhood kids showered her with praise and homemade signs heralding her title.
"I've been bowling since I was 3, and I've always wanted to go pro," Jones said. "My parents, we never really knew how to do that, but this title got me recognition.
"It made me think, wow, I could actually make this my career."
Learn from the best
Naperville Central's boys soccer program - which last weekend scored a coup with its championship at the tough Best of the West Tournament - will present a free one-hour youth soccer clinic with all proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Open for boys and girls soccer players ages 5-14, the event will be held from 3-4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Naperville Central's soccer complex at the intersection of West and Hillside streets. Each $5 donation nets a ticket for the Redhawks' game against Neuqua Valley at 4:30. Kids should bring their shin guards, a soccer ball and something to drink.
They're not saying Boo, they're saying Buk!
Kudos to Montini wrestling coach Mike Bukovsky for being named the 2008 Illinois High School Association coach of the year for wrestling. It's the first time a Broncos coach has been granted such an honor. Bukovsky now becomes eligible for national honors.
Also, a belated tip of the hat to honorees of the IHSA's second annual Distinguished Service Awards.
Locals saluted were Carol Koszola, who either coached or was involved in just about everything at Lake Park; former Hinsdale South and Downers South wrestling coach Joe Pedersen; and Blaise Blasko, the boys gymnastics guru and former teacher, coach and athletic director at Glenbard West, where you can still often find him in the gym or at the football field.
This just in
In its first week of regular-season voting, the Illinois Cross Country Coaches Poll ranks Geneva the No. 1 girls team in the state, followed by Hinsdale Central and Naperville North. Also in the top 20 are Lake Park, Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North, Neuqua Valley, Benet and Downers Grove South.
The boys list is headed by defending state champion Neuqua Valley with Naperville North and York close behind. There's a lengthy gap between them and Waubonsie Valley and WW South, tied for 13th.
More later.