Schaumburg's Frick takes Day 1 tournament lead
Schaumburg rallied to put itself into championship contention Friday at the girls state bowling tournament in Rockford.
Sitting in seventh position at the break after 3 games were in the books, the Saxons posted marks of 1,048 and 1,108 in games 4 of 5 to move all the way up to third place going into Saturday's final round at Cherry Bowl.
Schaumburg freshman Kylie Frick led the way for the Mid-Suburban League champions by posting a 6-game series of 1,432, good for the lead in the individual medalist race by 29 pins over second-place Elizabeth Davis of Harrisburg.
Elise London rolled games of 257 and 244 for the Saxons, who trail leader Joliet West by just 167 pins with 6 more games to roll Saturday.
The top 12 teams of the 24 that started the day qualified for the second day of the tourney, and the fates weren't kind to other local teams as Hoffman Estates, Hersey and Buffalo Grove failed to advance.
But there were some great individual performances, especially from Bison junior Jessica Soskich.
Soskich, still recovering from a hand injury that came late in the season, rolled a 1,347 - including a 269 in game 3 - to find herself seventh overall.
"Jessica was throwing the ball extremely well," said Buffalo Grove coach Jean Tripam, as Soskich qualified for the second day of the tourney as an individual. "She's excited. Unfortunately as a team we struggled in game four with a 798. That kind of took the wind out of our sails."
Hersey was led by a 1,237 from junior Emma Wrenn, while teammate Monsie Plata started the day with a bang by firing a 244.
Hoffman Estates also rallied Friday, coming all the way back from 23rd place at intermission to move into contention for a spot in day 2 by posting a 1,023 in game 4 and a 1,054 in game 5.
But the Hawks' comeback just wasn't to be, as they fell back to 16th position after all 6 games were in the books.
Junior Amanda Richae proved to be a bright spot for Hoffman. She will compete again today after posting 5 games over 200, including a 225, to finish 22nd overall individually.
"It's kind of weird that I'm going to be bowling tomorrow without my teammates," said Richae, the only Hawk to advance. "We've worked so hard as a team and it's kind of disappointing."
"I'm especially going to miss the seniors - they gave me my best season ever. We developed a bond and we've been close all season."
Frick, one of only two freshmen among the top 88 bowlers Friday, moved into the top spot by rolling games of 245 and 279 right after the mid-day break.
Sarah Schwind, a senior, gave a big boost to the Saxons hopes by posting a 238 mark in her 3rd game of the day while another frosh, Gina Lenoci, had a 212 and 209.
It was a mixed bag for local individual competitors at Cherry Bowl as Rolling Meadows senior Robyn Konrad counted a 236 game while Victoria Odarczenko from Maine South had games of 247 and 223.
Conant senior Victoria Domanski fired a 660 series in the afternoon, including games of 236 and 245 to end the day.
"She did great," said Cougars coach Jennifer Mikrut of the senior. "Victoria had a goal coming in of making it to the second day and now she's achieved that goal, after just missing the cut last year. She's a very poised, focused young lady and she stays calm - she's not rattled by anything."
"It feels amazing," said Domanski of her overall 1,267 score, which saw her place in 32nd position.
Domanski said she was dedicating her performance to her grandfather, Gordon Lowery.
"He flew in from Arkansas last night just to see me bowl in the state finals," said Domanski. "My dad picked him up O'Hare and they got down here early. They were cheering me on all day and it meant a lot to me."