Vernon Hills' Sanhamel sets state mark, sits in fourth
Nicole Sanhamel of Vernon Hills didn't waste much time on Friday at the IHSA girls state bowling tournament at Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford.
Sanhamel opened the day rolling games of 259, 254 and 278 to set a state record 791. Her three-game pinfall eclipsed the total of 775 set by Bartlett's Jamie Calusinski in 2000.
"I have my coaches to thank for it," said Sanhamel, about Andra Hjelm and Jim Cogar. "Everybody I was bowling with kept the energy up for me. I just got some strikes, hit my target and my marks. I definitely got into a good zone and blocked everything out."
Sanhamel led the tournament for the first five games. She dropped to fourth place after rolling 181, 225 and 140 for a 546 over her last three games for a total 1,337 pins heading into today's six-game finals competition.
Antioch finished 13th with 5,616 pins and missed the cut by 26 pins.
"Our goal this year was to make the state tournament," Antioch coach Jeff Childress said. "After the sectionals, we readdressed our goals. We laid everything on the line. Our score today is 200 pins more than we've downed all season."
Three Sequoits advanced individually, including Kaitlyn Trusky (1,178), Kimberly Childress (1,169) and Alyssa Alvarez (1,119).
Grant (5,603) was right behind Antioch in 14th place. The Bulldogs had two bowlers move on in Brie Brugioni (1,257) and Lydia Wells (1,150).
Waubonsie Valley's Sarah O'Brien and Molly Slyan of Lockport are tied as tournament leaders with 1,342 pins through six games.
O"Brien shot 686 in the morning and followed up with a 656 that included a high of 266 in Game 4.
"I thought I bowled decent and wanted to bowl for the team," said O"Brien, who averages 205. "I came out and didn't want to overthink too much. One of main goals this year was to be in the top 5.
Waubonsie Valley, which finished third in state last year and returned with an inexperienced group, is sitting in 10th place (5,691).
"I was asked coming with an expectation," said Warriors coach Amy Rymer. "I'm a coach that looks at things one day at a time. We came in here to make it into the second day."
Other Waubonsie Valley scores included Molly Reinle (1,220), Devon Hudson (1,102), Rachel Rymer (976), Melissa Gresko (547, 3 games) and Laura Schafer (504, 3 games).
Lockport (6,142) carries a 159-pin lead into today's final six games. The Porters are ahead of second-place Plainfield South (5,983), while Collinsville and Plainfield North are tied for third (5,944).
Lake Park (5,656) and Leyden (5,642) make their way into the second day and made the cut in 11th and 12th places, respectively.
"It's scary being the 12th team," said Leyden coach Nick Marx, whose team finished 11th last year. "We had expectations of being in the top five."
Lake Park was led by Tiffany Novy (1,280), Lisa Beckman (1,163), Angela Beckmann (1,142), Courtney Gahalla (1049) and Katie Vormittag (1,022).
Leyden's Samantha Downs threw an 1,194. Other Leyden scores included of Kaity White (1,176), Ashley Henk (1,149), Jenny Schauenburg (1,047), Michelle Spitzer (731, 4 games) Danyel Travis (345, 2 games).