Girls bowling: Lakes' Voight advances to finals
ROCKFORD - Getting to the second day of the girls state tournament is a bowler's dream.
A number of Lake County area individuals saw that dream realized Friday at The Cherry Bowl.
Lakes' Emily Voight, who is making the school's first appearance at state, advanced with a 1,218 total in six games. She rolled a 606 in the morning with games of 207, 202 and 197. She followed up with a 612 that included games of 187, 202 and 223.
"I was excited for this being my first time at state," Voight said. "I didn't have my best day. I was just consistent in the 200s. I came in and I wasn't that nervous. I didn't have butterflies in my stomach. It felt like cocoons, but it wasn't happening yet."
One thing that Voight concentrated on was making spares, and that was a big part of her success.
"I just wanted to make spares and try to stay clean," Voight said. "I could have had lower scores if I didn't make those spares."
Jessica Soskich of Buffalo Grove is the tournament leader after the first day with 1,399, as she rolled a 708 followed by a 691.
Others advancing included Warren's Victoria Dizon (1,168) and Kayla Rossi (1,162) and Lake Zurich's Amanda Tarlos (1,165).
Machesney Park Harlem (6,293) leads Lockport (6,223) by 70 pins, while O'Fallon is third (5,924). Waubonsie Valley (5,921) sits three pins back in fourth.
Warren had a slow start but worked its way to 13th place. The Blue Devils (5,543) missed the cut by 13 pins, as Freeport (5,543) placed 12th.
"We were really close," Warren coach KC Lange said. "Shot was tough and we knew it would be that way. We did get ourselves into a good position (to make the second day). It just took us some time to get the engine going. If we made one more spare, we would see one more day."
The Blue Devils have made back-to-back trips to state. They shot 2,762 in the morning set and 2,781 in the afternoon.
Lake Zurich (5,372) beat its previous best at state and finished 19th. The Bears found themselves in third place early but couldn't sustain the run. They had a 2,806 over the first three games and a 2,566 over the last three.