Schaumburg, Hoffman advance
For the third consecutive season, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates have advanced to the girls bowling state championship tournament.
The favored Saxons were victorious at Saturday's Hoffman Estates sectional, but the Hawks' second-place finish and qualification for state came as a surprise.
Elk Grove and Prospect, runners up in the Mid-Suburban League this year behind Schamburg, were expected to battle it out for the final state qualifying spot amongst the the 16 teams at the AMF Hoffman Lanes sectional.
But a stellar performance from the underdog Hawks, led by Mandee Hoglund's score of 1,198, punched their ticket to the state tournament at Rockford next weekend.
"All season, everyone doubted us," said Hawks sophomore Liz Saffold, who knocked down 1,060 pins in the tourney.
"Since the sisters (Hoffman four-year standout bowlers Natalie and Amanda Cortese) had graduated, no one gave us a chance," added Hoffman's Veronica Varga. "We wanted to prove everyone wrong."
Prospect senior Hannah Wrenn won the individual medal with a total pinfall of 1,293, just edging Schaumburg senior Marilyn Gawlik (1,274).
Wrenn made a point not to watch the scores during the tourney and didn't find out she was victorious until moments before the results were announced.
"It was shocking," said the senior. "I had no idea I was in the running. I just took it frame by frame and shot by shot."
Wrenn goes to the state tournament, held at Rockford's Cherry Lanes this Friday-Saturday, for the second time as an individual. The senior finished 18th in state as a sophomore in 2007.
"This is a great way to end my career," said Wrenn, "but I'm disappointed that I won't be going (to state) with my teammates. Today was just heartbreaking for them."
Schaumburg had to fight back from behind to win the sectional.
The Saxons were in fifth position midway through the tourney but pinfalls of 1,024 in game 4 and 1,063 in game 5 led them to a 5,778 to 5,719 win over Hoffman.
"The girls were not relaxed in the morning," said Schaumburg coach Mark Kelly. They were upright, which is unusual for them. And there were other teams that were bowling extremely well, and I think our eyeballs were watching them, and we were tightening up."
"I told them to stay focused (going into the final 3 games), relax, and do what they needed to do."
Prospect finished third in the team competion with a score of 5589, while Palatine (5485) was fourth and Elk Grove (5453) was fifth.
Barbie Gutwein of Palatine was the second advancing individual to the state finals. The sophomore, who wasn't even on varsity when the season began, was third best overall with a pinfall of 1,256.
"The lanes were in extemely good condition," said the modest Gutwein of her stellar performance, "and my ball was breaking right into the pocket."
Sophomore Jodi Gawlik of Schaumburg finished fourth with 1,202 pins knocked down, Hoglund took fifth, Conant's Brianna Caroo (1194) placed sixth, while Anna Gill of Hoffman (1189) took seventh.
Ashley Phillips (1152), Kathryn Schild (1117) and Sara Kuczmarski (1033) made big contributions to the Schaumburg win.
"We're planning on bringing our 'A' game to Rockford," said Marilyn Gawlik. "We want to finish first."
As a tribute to the strength of Mid-Suburban League bowling, 26 of the top 27 individuals were from the MSL. Only Shannon Forney of Elgin (21st position) broke the trend.
Lisa Papeck (1171) and Kara Hartel (1101) were in the top 20 for Hoffman.
Fenton sectional: Coach Chris Aylward's Leyden team earned a spot at state by winning the sectional held at Wood Dale Bowl. The Eagles' Samantha Downs had the top overall score at 1,254, edging Nadine Blanton of Fenton (1,240). Leyden got key efforts from Jenny Schauenburg (1,157), Ashley Henk (1,150), Danyel Travis (1,111), Kaity White (794) and Michelle Spitzer (304).