Girls bowling: Mid-Suburban League championship
Mid-Suburban League girls bowling championship
When: 8:30 a.m. Saturday
Where: AMF Lanes Rolling Meadows
Defending team champ: Elk Grove
Last year’s individual champ: Jodi Gawlik, Schaumburg
MSL Standings going into the tourney: 1. Hoffman Estates 2. Elk Grove 3. Prospect 4. Conant 5. Schaumburg 6. Rolling Meadows 7. Fremd 8. Wheeling 9. Buffalo Grove 10. Palatine 11. Barrington 12. Hersey
Top 10 individuals by average: 1. Mariah McVay (Sr, Buffalo Grove) 199.39; 2. Ashley Dolce (Sr, Elk Grove) 199.33; 3. Tedra Tado (Sr, Elk Grove) 198.42; 4. Allison Walsh (Sr, Prospect) 198.36; 5. Sarah Wille (So, Hoffman Estates) 193.06; 6. Brittany Gray (Sr, Hoffman Estates) 192.24; 7. Cheyenne Pfeiffer (Sr, Schaumburg) 190.52; 8. Cassie Bach (Sr, Prospect) 185.23; 9. Abbey Hill (Sr, Rolling Meadows) 184.97; 10. Courtney Slavich (Jr, Conant) 183.06.
The skinny: They say it’s lonely at the top, but that’s not the case in the Mid-Suburban League this year. Hoffman Estates, defending champion Elk Grove, and Prospect are about as tightly bunched as you can get with each having a great chance to take the title. The Hawks lead the conference with a record of 86-13, with the Grenadiers only 2 points back in second and the Knights just 5 points behind the leaders. Conant and Schaumburg, in fourth and fifth position, have outside shots while the battle will be even more compeitive for individual medalist honors. McVay, Dolce, Tado and Walsh, all seniors, are separated by just over 1 pin per game.
Other bowlers to watch: Jaz Skor (Sr, Barrington); Shana Rarick (Sr, Buffalo Grove); Kayleigh Burnitz (Jr, Fremd); Sam Tres (Sr, Hersey); Sam Hoglund (Sr, Hoffman Estates); Anna Lessner (Jr, Palatine); Michelle Bergeron (Sr, Prospect); Rachel Vincent (So, Schaumburg); Samantha Nowry (Jr, Wheeling).
What they’re saying:
“The girls have bowled well this season. They’ve worked hard throughout the season to put themselves in this position going into the conference meet, but we know Saturday is worth a lot of points and a two point lead is not a big lead at all with the teams in this league. We have to continue to bowl well, stay positive, work as a team and pick each other up in order to be successfull.”
— Hoffman Estates coach Dan Pfligler
“I think we’ve got a really good chance to defend our title. This year the girls have focused on just taking each meet and each tournament as it comes. We’ve had our struggles as all teams do, but we’ve pulled together as a team while keeping our goals in mind.”
— Elk Grove coach Kimberly Sander
compiled by Bill Esbrook