Girls bowling: Schaumburg's Frick savors second-place finish

Schaumburg junior girls bowling standout Haylie Frick has zero complaints about what she did at this weekend's state finals tournament at Cherry Bowl near Rockford.

Frick, who led the individual field after the first day of action, finished second in the state, becoming the seventh Saxon in program history to finish in the Top 3 at state and one of only five to end in the Top 2.

"It felt very good," she said. "It was crazy, but very good."

Frick ended with a six-round total of 2,576 and averaged 214.7 per game. O'Fallon's Mary Orf, who was third after the first day, exploded in the finale, rolling a 1,421 series for the final six, and won the state title at 2,743 (228.6 per game), or 167 pins ahead of Frick in the race for first.

"I stayed relaxed and took it one shot at a time," Frick said. "I tried not to think about anybody else too much, but myself. I kept pushing and didn't give up."

Frick, Harlem's Olivia Watton and Orf were the top three bowlers heading into Saturday's play with Frick at 1,348, Watton at 1,333 and Orf at 1,322.

Saturday, Frick started with a 235, while Orf shot 227 to move into second and Watton shot 198 - giving Frick a 34-pin lead over now second-place Orf and a 52-pin lead over Watton.

And that's when Orf made her move. She shot 297 in the second game to take over first place with a 94-pin lead over Frick and a 102-pin lead over Watton. Orf added to her lead in the third game by shooting a 236 to finish with a dominant 760 three-game series, highest of the weekend (she also had a 727 Friday). Orf took a 94-pin lead over Watton into the lunch break and Frick trailed by 130 pins.

Orf came out of the break with a blistering 278 to go up by 195 pins over both Frick and Watton after four. Orf trailed off in the final two games, failing to break 200 in both, but the damage already had been done.

Frick, who rolled a 706 series Friday afternoon, finished Saturday afternoon's session strong with a 624 series with games of 213, 201 and 210.

Of the 12 games she bowled at Cherry Bowl, 11 were 200 pins or higher.

Frick said the nerves level wasn't terribly off the charts bringing the lead into the second day. "A little bit, but I tried to play my game and do what I know I can do," she said. "I tried to calm myself down."

In terms of Saturday's play, Frick said repetition played a key role. "I was mainly repeating shots and finding a place to play," she said. "(Friday) was more spares and today was finding a good shot and keeping that. The lanes were a little harder today (oil pattern)."

Frick tipped her hat to Downstate O'Fallon's Orf. "She did really good," she said.

Frick admitted scoreboard watching in that type of situation does come into play a bit. "I tried to focus on myself," she said. "You can't control what others do. It was mainly just myself. I'm very happy with what I did. Second was higher than what I came in thinking."

Frick has been part of three trips to state in as many seasons. She was a freshman on the 2018 team that finished third and was 30th in state individually last year for the Saxons, who took seventh.

"I have a lot of motivation for next year," she said.

Frick said the highlight of the weekend was the 266 she squeezed off in the fifth game on Friday.

"It being the nine (strikes) in a row then sadly getting a split," she said. "That feeling still was good and that score boosted my total."

On the team front, Buffalo Grove finished 11th in state at 10,732 for 12 games. The Bison finished with a 5,302 on Saturday. Rebecca Howard ended up 11th individually with a 2,474. She rolled a 1,269 series (669 to start) Saturday with high games of 242 and 234.

Conant was right behind Buffalo Grove in 12th place at 10,261. Junior Jemma Skweres led the Cougars with a grand total of 2,288. Cassandra Hyland led Conant Saturday with a 1,070 series and finished with a 2,281 total.

Hersey junior Lauren Brown made it to the second day of competition and finished in 68th place overall with a 2,162 total for 12 games. She had a 198 high game on Saturday.