Gawlik, Schaumburg roll to second at Palatine

Jodi Gawlik doesn't keep track of her score when competing in a bowling tourney.

She may be the only one.

The Schaumburg junior notched another top effort in what has been a tremendous season thus far by rolling a 1,357, including 5 games over 200, to take second individually and led the Saxons to a second-place finish at the Palatine Invite.

The tournament was played this year at AMF Lanes in Rolling Meadows.

Defending state champion Lockport bested Schaumburg by only 79 pins while Sycamore's Chelsea Royalty (1,392) was at the top of the leaderboard.

"Bowling is a team sport," said Gawlik, who leads the Mid-Suburban League in average, "so I try to focus on the team score, not my own."

Schaumburg graduated four seniors, including Jodi's sister Marilyn (a former state champion) from last year's state qualifying team.

But the Saxons have thrived so far this year behind Jodi, Julie Thomas (fourth at Palatine with a 1,253), Kelly Judge and Taylor Kallhoff.

"We're basically a new team," said Gawlik. "We haven't been bowling together for long. They (Lockport) have been together an lot longer, so I think our performance today was solid."

Gawlik enjoys competing in tournaments, where the bowlers total 6 games played as opposed to only 3 games in regular league play.

"I personally find it thrilling," said the junior. "You get more into it, and you get to see a lot of teams that you don't normally see."

Conant senior Brianna Carroo, who fired a 1,153 (good for 13th place), couldn't agree more with her MSL rival.

"It's exciting," said Carroo. "It's easier (to score well) because if you have a bad game, it only counts as one-sixth of your score as opposed to one-third in a league match."

"You prepare differently," added the senior. "We get up earlier, eat breakfast together as a team, then we get to the lanes early and play games or listen to music. It gives us a chance to calm our nerves."

Jacobs (Ashley Rood, 1101) finished sixth in the 16-team tourney while Rolling Meadows was seventh.

The Mustangs were led by a strong performance from senior Katia Smith, who's pinfall of 1,142 was good for 17th position individually, one spot behind Palatine's Barbie Gutwein (1146).

"These tournaments give you a chance to improve," said Smith. "When you play six games, you know that one bad game won't ruin the entire day."

Smith says that fatigue can set in, especially when bowling in that sixth game.

"You've got to stay positive," said the senior. "I started the day with some open frames, but I focused on my technique, and not my scores.

"My legs were killing me, and I had to keep getting up and moving around. But it's all mental, and if you stay positive, it turns out all right."