Gawlik, Saxons edge Elk Grove for MSL title
Marilyn Gawlik and her Schaumburg teammates were all smiles after winning the Mid-Suburban League championship Saturday at AMF Lanes in Rolling Meadows.
Gawlik, last year's state champion, rolled the top game of the day - 277 - as the Saxons edged second-place Elk Grove. Prospect finished third.
Senior Brittney Mari of Conant parlayed Thursday's MSL season-high series of 749 and Saturday's third-best overall pin total - 1,284 in six games - to captured the individual MSL crown.
Both the team and individual championships factored in total league placement in addition to tournament scores, and Mari's final average of 208.95 just topped Gawlik at 208.23.
"I'm so happy for Brittney," said Conant coach Jennifer Childress. "She's a huge asset to our team. She's a great role model, she stays positive and worries more about the team than her own accomplishments. She's become so consistent this year, anything she leaves out there, you know she's going to pick up."
"I've worked so hard, and all of that hard work has paid off," Mari said. "I've made a lot of changes and improvements this year, and I think I'm most improved at learning how to pick up spares more efficiently. Picking up spares is so important, because you know the strikes will come."
In the team race, Schaumburg entered the tournament 8 points ahead of Elk Grove, with 99 additional points available to the teams in the weighted six-game scoring system.
At one point in the fifth game, the Grenadiers closed the gap to 3.5 points, but a late Schaumburg kick - sparked by 1,264 pins from Jodi Gawlik - enabled the Saxons to score a 181.5-173 victory.
"This is great for the kids," said Saxons coach Mark Kelly. "The whole reason we become coaches is to be able to put smiles on these kids' faces. I told them just to come out and enjoy the moment and the experience, and if they did that, Elk Grove would have to bowl their butts off to beat us.
"And Elk Grove did bowl extremely well. You have to give them all the credit in the world."
Hannah Wrenn of Prospect finished third with a 206.79 average. Jodi Gawlik (204.49) was fourth, and Elk Grove sophomore Caerlina Williams (201.77) took fifth.
Williams rolled the day's high three-game series, a 691 in the morning session, and also knocked down the most pins (1,307).
"This year has been incredible," said Grens coach Kim Sander. "These kids work so hard. They help each other and they feed off each other. It's a true team."
Hoffman Estates took fourth, Conant fifth and Palatine sixth.
Mari's 247 was the second-highest game, and Fremd's Ashley Landowski shot a 253 en route to the second-highest pin total of 1,290.
Finishing with the sixth through 10th individual averages were: Landowski (197.85); Sunnie Phillips of Schaumburg (197.03); Elk Grove's Sarah Bunta (193.69); and Schaumburg's Kathryn Schild (189.92) and Sara Kuczmarski (187.54).
"We lost three great seniors from last year's team," said Marilyn Gawlik, "but we knew that we could be just as good as last year because we had some great players coming in to take their spots.
"Our next goal is to win sectionals and make it to state."