Team Hoglund helping out Hoffman Estates
You might say that Hoffman Estates senior bowler Sam Hoglund is a bit protective of her younger sister Brandy, who’s also a standout competitor on this year’s Hawks squad.
“It’s very cool that she’s only a sophomore and she’s on varsity, but I hate it when she gets down on herself,” said Sam. “I try to cheer her up, but it doesn’t always work.”
Luckily for both siblings, there’s been quite a few more ups than downs for Hoffman this year as both Hoglunds have been making big contributions to the now first-place Hawks.
Brandy Hoglund fired games of 210 and 200 Monday night at AMF Lanes Rolling Meadows, while teammate Brittany Gray pitched in with a 597 series (222 game) as Hoffman defeated Hersey 9-0 to move into a tie with Elk Grove at the top of the Mid-Suburban League standings.
The Grens fell to Prospect 7-2 as the Knights vaulted into third place in the league, only 5 points behind Elk Grove and Hoffman; Conant scored a decisive 9-0 victory over Schaumburg as Courtney Slavich led the Cougars with games of 213 and 203; Rolling Meadows won against Wheeling.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Brandy Hoglund of not only making varsity as a soph but also getting to bowl with her sister. “It’s also a lot more competitive, but we support each other, and the whole team has been supportive of me as well — and that’s made it a lot easier fitting in.”
Prospect, which edged Elk Grove by 12 overall pins (2718 to 2706), got outstanding efforts from Michelle Bergeron, Allison Walsh and Cassie Bach.
Bergeron fired a 597 series, while Walsh rolled games of 204 and 202 and Bach was consistent with games of 188 and 186.
“I find that I bowl better against the top competition,” said Bach. “Our coach (Greg Troyer) reminded us that this was a big match and we had to come out tonight with focus and concentration.”
Abbey Hill led Meadows in their win Monday with a 206 game while Palatine came up with its best effort of the season in a 9-0 win over Buffalo Grove.
Missy Cannon had games of 191 and 188 to pace the Pirates, while senior Mariah Mcvay of the Bison, the MSL’s top bowler with a 200.71 average coming in, rolled a 224 despite being under the weather.
In the night’s final matchup, Fremd rallied to defeat Barrington and move over the .500 mark at 42-39.
The Vikings Kayleigh Burnitz had the night’s top game, a 245, while teammate Sam Rossdeutscher’s 222 matched the evening’s second-best effort.
Rossdeutscher says the team’s recent success has been coming as no surprise.
“We’ve really pulled together,” said the senior. “We’ve been working very hard on teamwork and team building and that’s the big reason for our improvement.
“We know we can all talk to each other and we coach each other as well, and that’s leading to better scores and fewer bad games.”