A wild ride on the lanes

Rich Central senior Khrystal Richardson had a Friday the 13th to remember at the Girls State Bowling Finals, taking part in one of the craziest scenarios the tournament has ever had.

Richardson, a member of the state-qualifying Olympians team, had finished her six games. The team did not make it into the top 12, and Richardson had not been announced as being among the individual bowlers to advance to Saturday's final two rounds.

The Friday competition had been completed at 3 p.m. Richardson, her teammates and the coaching staff left Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford soon after.

"We didn't do as well as we wanted to," Richardson said. "Coach (Rudy Fisher) wanted to get back to the hotel. The girls wanted to have a relaxed rest of the day and go to the mall."

Back at Cherry Bowl Lanes, drama was unfolding. A scoring error had been discovered, resulting in the disqualification of one of the advancing bowlers. As a result, Richardson and Evergreen Park junior Maggie Suchoski (both of whom had totaled 1,108 pins) had tied for the final qualifying spot and were going to take part in the first rolloff in IHSA history.

Suchoski was still at the facility when the announcement was made. But nobody could find Richardson. Some frantic maneuvering by tournament officials resulted in a call to the team's hotel. It was nearly 5 p.m.

"I was in the shower getting ready for dinner and the mall," Richardson said. "Then (the coaches) came and told me that we had to go back to the bowling alley.

"I was, 'OK, that's fine.' But then I was like, 'Oh, wait. I don't have my ball.' ''

Richardson's mother, who had driven separate from the team, was well on her way home. Figuring she would help create more room in the team's van, she took her daughter's ball bag with her. It contained her ball, her shoes, her shirt and her arm brace.

Richardson made it back to the bowling alley at approximately 6 p.m., and used equipment provided by her teammates for a two-frame (9th and 10th), winner-take-all match against Suchoski.

The toughest piece of equipment to replace was the ball.

"My ball is a little bit different," Richardson said. "I have a ball that when you throw it, it has a big snap at the end. I throw the ball close to the gutter and it snaps back. I'm used to doing that with my ball and their balls don't do that. I had to change my line in five minutes."

Richardson and Suchoski were both shaky during the rolloff, opening in both the ninth and 10th frames. They ended in a tie, forcing yet another rolloff.

During the second rolloff both bowlers did well, with Suchoski throwing four strikes in a row to garner the final qualifying position.

Thus ended the high school career of Richardson, who was making her first state appearance in just her second year of organized bowling.

Her 1,108 eclipsed her sectional-winning tally of 1,061. Among her high games Friday was a 224.

"We had lots of fun," Richardson said. "I actually won first place in my sectional, so I was going to go state anyway, but I'm happy my team won first place and we got to go."

Among the other Olympians who competed at the state finals were LaToya Bingham, Gena Goss, Ngozi Mogbo, Jasmine Jamison, Ashley Cox, Brittney Husband and Jacqueline Corley.

Tony Baranek can be reached at tbaranek@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5947.