Vernon Hills' Sanhamel brings home the big prize
ROCKFORD - Nicole Sanhamel of Vernon Hills wore the biggest smile at the end of the day Saturday while accepting her state championship medal as the best girls high school bowler in Illinois.
Sanhamel had 2,723 reasons to grin - her total pinfall in the two-day IHSA tournament rolled at Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford.
Her 12-game total - a 226.9 average that included a career-best 289 game - enabled the Cougars junior to capture the first individual state champion in any sport at Vernon Hills.
"Honestly, I really don't think I could've done any better," said Sanhamel, who is left-handed and normally averages in the 180s. "I'm still amazed I did that well. I don't think I moved that much the last couple days being compared to the right-handed bowlers."
Sanhamel's total was the second-highest individual pinfall in tournament history behind Lake Park's Theresa Wimberly, who shot 2,804 in 2003.
Sanhamel became the second Lake County bowler to win an individual state crown. She joins Warren's Arlene Hildalgo, who took the title in 1994.
In Saturday's action, Sanhamel rolled games of 223, 203 and 224 for a 650 series in the morning session and found herself 7-pins behind the leader in a group of five bowlers separated by just 10 pins.
What changed everything for Sanhamel was her fourth game. Sanhamel started with a spare and then threw 10 strikes in a row before leaving a 10-pin on her last ball for a 289. That put Sanhamel on top of the leaderboard by 47 pins, and she bowled games of 237 and 210 for a 736 series her last three games.
"When I bowled the 289 game, some people were saying you've got it in the bag," Sanhamel said.
"I really didn't think anything of it and tried to do my best. I knew I had one good game and had to keep going. I was worried about someone having a big game to catch me."
Waubonsie Valley's Sarah O'Brien picked up a medal by finishing seventh (2,604 pins, 217 average). On Saturday, O'Brien threw series of 652 and a 610 with a high game of 235.
Tiffany Novy of Lake Park placed 10th for a medal (2,569 pins, 214 average). Novy started with a 599 and tossed an impressive 690 with a 268 game.
Grant's Brie Brugioni fell short of medal contention, finishing 19th after a 574 and a 621 for a 12-game total of 2,451 (204 average).
"There wasn't a lot of carry in the morning," Brugioni said.
"I was able to pick things up in the afternoon. I still thought I bowled well over the 12 games and my main goal was top 20."
Other area bowlers included Antioch's Alyssa Alvarez (2,375) in 34th place, Kaitlyn Trusky (2,331) 39th, and Kimberly Childress (2,287) 45th.
Lockport won the team title, setting a tournament mark of 12,267 pins. Rockford Guilford was second (11, 911) and Collinsville finished third (11,848).
Leyden was a spot back of Lake Park in 12th place (11, 208).
Leyden's scorers were Kaity White (2,400) 31st individually, Ashley Henk (2,235), Jenny Schauenburg (2,192), Samnatha Downs (2,052), Michelle Spitzer (1,478, eight games), Danyel Travis (687, four games) and Rebecca Radek (164, one game).