Lockport, Morris advance to final round

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And then there were two.

Six area girls bowling teams qualifed for this weekend's state tournament at Cherry Hill Lanes, but only two, Lockport and Morris, finished Friday in the top 12 out of 24 and advanced to today's final two rounds.

Lockport is currently in seventh place with a six-game total of 5,890, 151 pins behind first-place Schaumburg. Morris holds the 12th spot with a score of 5,603. Plainfield North just missed the cut, placing 13th with 5,564. Minooka (5,364) was 18th, Plainfield Central (5,255) was 20th and Lemont (5,249) was 21st.

Lockport was led by Mollie Sloyan, who sits in eighth place in the individual standings with her six-game total of 1,298. All the members of the 12 advancing teams and the top 30 individuals that are not members of those teams advance to today's individual finals. Also bowling for Lockport were Caitlin Hoffman (25th, 1,238), Casey Kernbauer (51st, 1,162), Morgan Sharp (74th, 1,122) and Devan Wysocki (97th, 1,070).

Lockport coach Art Cwudzinski likes the position that his team is in entering today's competition.

"Ironically, Lockport was in seventh place after the first day back in 1999," Cwudzinski said. "They came back the next day, rolled very well and eventually won the state championship. Maybe today was an omen along the same lines. That's what we're hoping.

"We remain optimistic. We had a consistent day and kept climbing the ladder. The girls are confident going into Saturday's round. They aren't afraid being in the position that they're in. This is a fearless group of young bowlers."

Advancing to the final day of competition is often the most difficult part of the state tournament, according to Cwudzinski, whose daughter, Connie, is an assistant for Plainfield North and head coach Ron Lear.

"The girls realize that the difficult part for them is now over," Cwudzinski said. "They've made it to the final day. Now, they know that they can't leave anything in the bag. They are ready to roll and confident of what they can accomplish." Morris was led by Mary Bellus' 14th-place score of 1,259. Other Redskins bowling were Ashley Copley (41st, 1,184), Jessica Laabs (63rd, 1,138), Amamda Copley (124th, 955), Jessica Vogen (4 games, 761) and Samantha Farmer (2 games, 306).

Advancing as individuals were Debra Belobraydich of Plainfield North (27th, 1,230), Nicole Hamilton of Plainfield South (28th, 1,229), Danielle Drummond of Minooka (46th, 1,170), Alyssa Ennis of Plainfield Central (51st, 1,162), Ashley Brandt of Lemont (57th, 1,156) and Meghan Hardy of Plainfield North (59th, 1,150).

Following Belobraydich and Hardy for Plainfield North were Shannon Grimes (67th, 1,132), Megan Hoppe (103rd, 1,057) and Katelyn Wungleuck (121st, 995). Minooka's bowlers were Drummond, Liz Albert (79th, 1,107), Amanda Warwick (96th, 1,073), Kelly Schneider (4 games, 721), Alyssa Rak (4 games, 615), Stefanie Stout (3 games, 518) and Jordan Alberico (1 game, 160).

Bowling for Plainfield Central were Ennis, Tricia Zimmerman (97th, 1,070), Chelsea Oshita (110th, 1,033), Paige Jozwiak (115th, 1,026), Sam Sumner (4 games, 613) and Samantha Kazak (2 games, 351). Lemont's bowlers were Brandt, Nicole Chlipala (86th, 1,093), Jamie Budziak (108th, 1,039), Fallon Jarboe (116th, 1,020) and Annette Dzielski (125th, 941).