Girls bowling: Conant's Skweres, Schaumburg's Lenoci still alive at state

The Mid-Suburban League has two competitors in the top 10 of the individual race after Day 1 of the girls state bowling tournament.

Conant sophomore Jemma Skweres fired games of 256 and 243 Friday at Cherry Bowl in Rockford to finish in 5th overall (1,304 total pinfall) heading into Saturday's final session.

Senior Gina Lenoci of Schaumburg shot 1,274 to place 9th.

"She was calm, cool and collected," said Cougars coach Jennifer Mikrut of Skweres, who also had games of 224 and 222.

"Jemma was just outstanding today," added Mikrut. "She had fun and had a smile on her face the whole time. She had one bad game but bounced back from it and the rest of the time was just on fire."

"Most of her teammates were here to support her and that lifted her spirits."

Lenoci was ultra consistent in leading the Saxons team effort, shooting games of 238 and 231 in the morning round, and following that up with marks of 234 and 222 in the afternoon.

"She was really on a roll," said Schaumburg coach John Slavich of Lenoci. "Gina missed a couple of spares early but she bounced back and refocused."

"When she focuses in like she did today, she's on top of her game."

Defending champion Rebecca Hagerman Of Machesney Park Harlem leads the individual contest, while O'Fallon and Harlem are 1-2 in the team competition.

Junior Rebecca Howard paced Buffalo Grove at Cherry Bowl with a 1,179 (224 top game) and teammate Sara Clay rolled a 245 in her 5th game of the day.

Jenica Baron of Barrington shot her best score, a 235, in game 1.

Schaumburg, the MSL champs, advanced to day 2 as a team by finishing in 8th position, as senior Kylie Frick fired a 1,240 (245) while sophomore Haylie Frick shot 1,103 (211).

"Our nerves may have gotten the better of us early in the day," said Slavich. "Those top 2 teams bowled really well today, but I still think third place is there for the taking. And if those 2 (O'Fallon and Harlem) struggle, you never know."