HIGH SCHOOL BOWLING: Clark remains on the mark

HAMMOND -- Jenny Howard, mother of Clark bowler Trace Howard, calls her son a math whiz.

So after the Pioneers captured their third straight semistate title and the question of the odds of that happening were brought up, Trace had the answer.

"Based on four teams advancing (from the regional), and actually winning instead of just advancing, I figured it was about 483,821-to-1," he said with a wry smile.

He wasn't joking, and fellow Clark bowler Cody Chesser, who was sitting next to him, wasn't fazed.

Don't talk to the Clark bowlers about the odds. They've defied them all season.

Whether it's been a lack of bowlers at practice or the theft of bowling equipment or losing bowlers due to grades or full-time jobs getting in the way or a blood transfusion to save a brother's life, these Pioneers have been resilient.

But Clark kids are as blue-collar as they get in Northwest Indiana, scrapping and clawing for everything. They wouldn't want it any other way.

"I really don't think anything gets to us," Trace said. "We never have a full practice but we always come together at meets and we don't fight or anything. I don't know exactly what you call it."

How about intestinal fortitude?

The issues started in September more than a month before the high school season began. That's when Trace went through stem-cell separation to save his 31-year-old brother Chris' life.

Chris was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that had spread into his bone marrow. Trace was a match for a transfusion, so the junior laid on a bed for six hours while blood was being taken out of each arm and filtered through a machine to separate the stem cells.

Trace had more than 12 million stem cells removed and given to Chris, so it took a while for his body to replenish them.

Despite one of the side effects being a lack of energy while his body was anemic, he continued to bowl without missing a practice or league session on Saturday mornings at Olympia Lanes.

"Yeah, I'm the only one who hasn't missed a practice all year," he said while pumping his fist.

Right before the sectional, Howard either bowled league, high school or practice 25 straight days.

"I forgot exactly why I took a day off," he joked. "I think it was the night before sectional and coach (Stan Zatorski) wanted me to take a day off."

Howard averaged 199 during the season. He's stepped up big time in the postseason with a 219 mark.

Chesser was the one whose bowling balls were stolen from his car just before sectional. Now he only has one ball to use for strikes and spares.

"I've managed," he said modestly while holding that lone Brunswick Twisted Fury ball he purchased less than three weeks ago after borrowing a little money from his mom. "I have to throw it with a suitcase style hand position for spares."

Chesser is among the other team members -- everybody except Howard -- who has missed practices due to his part-time job. He works five days a week at Strack & Van Til's in the Robertsdale part of Hammond to help pay for bowling -- and the lone ball that he uses.

Clark also lost a bowler because of a full-time job outside of school and another because of grades.

"This is our usual practice," Chesser said, referring to only Howard and himself. "I've probably only made five practices all year. "We're bowling for the teammates that aren't here anymore. We just have to pull together and prove ourselves at state."

After what Clark has been through, don't bet against them no matter what the odds say.

Contact Steve Gorches at 648-3141, sgorches@post-trib.com. Visit his blog at blogs.post-trib.com/gorches to read more high school bowling coverage.