Girls bowling: Olson's 280 propels Antioch to regional crown
Alyssa Olson of Antioch threw the highest game of the day with an impressive 280 Saturday at the Antioch girls bowling sectional at Antioch Lanes.
It happened in game two and was her career-high. She opened with a strike, then a spare and then strung together 10 consecutive strikes in a row. It left everybody watching to the final shot.
"I was just able to be consistent and hit my mark each time throughout the entire game;" Olson said. "I've never done that many in a row. I knew that I couldn't get a 300, so I just thought to keep it going. But it did get rather quiet in the last frame."
Antioch led from start to finish and won its own regional with 5,726 pins in six games. The other teams that advanced to next Saturday's Hoffman Estates sectional at Poplar Creek Bowl included Grant (5,149), Libertyville (5,039) and Grayslake Central (4,961).
"These girls are unbelievable, because we didn't have one standout today," Antioch coach Phil Lindberg said. "We always had one good game out of three or four girls. We definitely belong as a team. These girls work hard every day of the week. We do a lot of spare shooting and they are great competitors."
The Sequoits rolled a 1,027 in their second game and had games of 976 and 881 for a 2,884 in the morning. Then, they shot games of 968, 928 and 946 for a 2,842 in the afternoon.
Antioch also had three of its bowlers finish in the top three spots including regional champion Alyssa Tanner with 1,190 (high games of 246 and 221). Allison Kane rolled a 1,188, Olson had a 1,182. Lynn Michalec 1,122 and Kayla Tikovitsch 1,044.
"In the end it was nervous and nerve-wracking," Tanner said. "We have great things ahead of us. We do great things individually and together we have a way to work with each other."
Grant started out with a 2,594 with games of 879, 901 and 914. Then the Bulldogs finished with 901, 826 and 828 for 2,555.
"It was our goal from the beginning to do well in conference and at least make it to sectionals as a team," Grant coach Beth Miller said. "From there on, we'll see where it all falls."
Autumn Hernandez led the Bulldogs with 1,121. Madeleine Cimo (1,075), Marisa Garcia (1,046), Katie Dinschel (1,015), Hana Yazdani (593, 4 games) and Maddison Knuth (299, 2 games) also contributed.
Libertyville needed to use a lot of its bowlers to make it into the sectional.
"This was outstanding. The girls have really started to put things together the last couple of weeks," Libertyville coach Lindsey Siegel said. "Switching out our order, putting in subs, the girls helped everybody out as a team. This was just icing on the cake."
Katie Feisl led the Wildcats with 1,124, Kristine Kropp (1,026), Kennah Porcelius (874, 5 games), Evelyn Tarman (742, 5 games), Sarah Kenzer (640, 4 games), Kailey Adams (350, 2 games), Kylie Pacholski (283, 2 games) also pitched in.
Grayslake Central will be making its first appearance in the sectional as the Rams were able to grab the final spot.
"It feels great and the girls bowled awesome today," Grayslake Central coach Mike Blasevich said. "We struggled a little bit coming out of lunch. But they rallied together and got it back to the swing of things, did the job. It was just closing out your frames. We've been talking about this as a team and we've never had this happen."
Madison Ervin was the top Rams' bowler with 1,042. The others were Ashley Kilmer (1,012), Jessica Gurchak (983), Grace Serres (977) and Victoria Medina (947).
The individuals advancing into the sectional are Wauconda's Jasmine McKeel (1,141) and Kala Issleb (1,030); Lakes' Aubrey Kiddle (1,154) and Sophia Donis (1,061); Round Lake's Michelle Lauritzen (1,023) and Crystal Garcia (1,018); Sydney Swiercz of Grayslake North (1,030); Warren's Brianna Haith (1,063); and Nicolette Terracciano (1,088) and Morgan Moeller (1,011) of Zion-Benton.