BY SEAMUS TIERNEY
A stunning season for the girls bowling team has seen them go 12-1-1 in the regular season to win the Red Division, take first place in all three Baker Tournaments they entered, and send four bowlers to the GMC Individual Finals where Savannah Gomez finished third overall. Tomorrow the squad enters the team GMC tournament as the number two seed.
The team made a fantastic turnaround considering they only managed five wins the prior season. “We all worked together and never gave up, even when we were down,” said junior Savannah Gomez, the team’s highest scorer.
One key to the team’s improvement is the addition of freshman Savanah Funk who scored the teams second highest game of the season with 223. Funk credits her individual success to “determination, practice, and never giving up on myself.”
The season featured numerous highlights, but many of the girls especially focus on the wins in the Baker Tournaments, where each member of the team bowls only two frames, and the scores are combined. Junior Madison Freudenberg especially enjoyed the win in the Charles A. Simon Tournament on December 17: “The competition there was harder.”
Even a season as successful as this one includes some adversity, and, although the girls only lost a total of eight sets all season, some of the matches tested their limits. “The match against St. Thomas Aquinas was most difficult because we were missing two of our starting girls,” explained Gomez.
In that match and through the season, the girls worked together to make the most of their time on the lanes. “I think the key to success for the team was practice, staying consistent, and making spares,” explained Madeline Hickel.
The girls carried their amazing regular season success into the post season, with four players, Gianna Blamer, Savanah Funk, Madeline Hickel, and Savannah Gomez, earning spots in the Individual GMC tournament. Gomez, who finished third this season after taking fifth as a sophomore, shared, “It felt really good and motivates me to push for first next year.”
In anticipation of the Team GMC Tournament, the girls took first place in yet another Baker Tournament, Joe Romer Memorial Baker Shootout, on January 20. “When we won the last tournament, we were all super excited especially because we won’t all three of the baker tournaments,” said Hickel.
The team heads into the Team GMC Tournament as the number two seed, having bypassed the play in and preliminary rounds, to take on Piscataway. “I’m super excited to be seeded so highly and proud of everyone on the team who worked hard to get us into this position,” said Gomez.
The girls enter the tournament with a sense of confidence and positivity. Freudenberg shared, “I think we have a good shot at winning.”
Posted on 2/2/23
Photos by Tim O’Neill and Lors Photography
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