Girls State Bowling: Lockport misses out on trophy
By Steve Millar For Sun-Times Media February 9, 2013 10:00PM
Bri Zabierek, of Lockport, celebrates Friday during the afternoon round of the girls bowling state finals in Rockford. | Dave Shields~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 11, 2013 6:36AM
Lockport’s girls bowlers left the state meet feeling like they had bowled well enough to earn a trophy.
Bowling requires a little luck, however, and the Porters were missing that Saturday at The Cherry Bowl in Rockford.
Entering Saturday in a first-place tie with Rockford Jefferson, Lockport fell to fourth place, one spot shy of the program’s fifth state trophy.
“We threw the ball better than we have pretty much all year,” Lockport’s Megan Szczepanski said. “(Friday), I threw three pocket seven-10 splits. We left 22 one-pins in the first game (Saturday). You just need a little bit of luck. You hit the pocket and from there it’s up to the pins.”
Joliet West freshman Taylor Bailey totaled 2,547 over 12 games (212.3 average) to finish 12th and become the area’s lone state medalist. She was 180 pins behind champion Giselle Poss of Oswego East.
A 245 in the finale boosted Bailey to a medal she did not expect.
“I didn’t know where I was in the standings and I didn’t think I had finished high enough to medal,” she said. “When they called my name, I was really surprised and excited and emotional.
“It’s a great feeling and I’d love to come back and win state one day.”
The Porters struggled to a 908 in the final game of the morning session, putting them in a hole they could not dig out of and they finished 64 pins behind Jefferson for the third and final trophy.
Lockport totaled 12,126, 386 pins behind champion Waubonsie Valley.
“My feeling walking out of here is we bowled really good today but we needed to be great,” Lockport coach Art Cwudzinski said. “This is the most talented team we’ve ever had here and I hope the girls can leave with their heads high.”
Szczepanski (2,520) led the Porters with a 13th-place finish, one spot shy of a medalist position.
“Finally making it to state my senior year was like a dream becoming reality,” Szczepanski said. “Right now, it’s frustrating to be one spot shy of a medal as a team and as an individual, but I’m sure I’ll be able to look back in a week and be proud.”
Ashley Hostert (15th, 2,508), Bri Zabierek (23rd, 2,483), Allyson Ware (46th, 2,371) and Nicole Troha (2,244) also contributed for Lockport.
“It wasn’t totally disappointing,” Hostert said. “We wanted so bad to get a trophy, but we still proved that we’re a top four team in the state.”
Minooka’s Emily Koulis (2,501) finished 18th and Lemont’s Kyra Udziela (2,474) was 28th. Morgan Flaherty (2,425) of Lincoln-Way West, the 2012 state champion, was 33rd. Minooka’s Allyson Lakota (2,398) finished 39th and Plainfield East’s Kinswana Hubbard (2,377) was 45th.
