Saxons' Gawlik rakes in another medal

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:24AM

Jodi Gawlik made history at the girls bowling state finals Saturday, but it wasn't exactly the kind she had in mind.

The Schaumburg senior was trying to join her sister, Marilyn, as the first sister combo to win individual state titles. Instead, she became the first person ever to finish second twice.

Gawlik, who held the lead after firing a 1,426 series in Friday's preliminaries, wound up second with a total of 2,758, 109 behind O'Fallon senior Natalie Goodman, who won the championship with a state-record 2,867 (238.9 average). It was the third state medal for Gawlik and her second straight runner-up finish.

"It's an interesting record, I would say," Gawlik said of her feat. "Not many people can say they've taken three medals in a row. Second place twice is pretty good."

Gawlik, who will bowl with Marilyn at McKendree next year, was done in by a 171 in the fourth game that allowed Goodman to pull away to an insurmountable lead.

"I definitely did not bowl up to my own standards today," Gawlik said. "I knew I needed [to make up] 47 pins in order to take over Natalie [in the fourth game]. I was watching her score and not paying attention to my own score."

But Gawlik finished strong, rolling a 257 in the last round to put the finishing touches on the third-highest total in state history. That included her first career 300 game, which she rolled on Friday.

"That felt really good," Gawlik said of the perfect game. "I was really glad that I ended up doing it here instead of at my [home] house in practice. I definitely wish that yesterday's performance could have repeated today."

Though she didn't get the top spot, Gawlik was thrilled with a prep career that will go down as one of the best ever by an area bowler. She is the third member of her family to finish in the top three; her mother was third in 1980 for Rich Central.

"I'm definitely proud of how I really grew as a person throughout my four years," Gawlik said. "I really grew mentally. If I were still a freshman today there is no way I'd have been shooting that 250 in that last game because I just wouldn't have had the mental game to do it."

Oswego junior Courtney Petoskey took third with 2,606, holding off DeKalb's Brandi Underwood (2,594), Elk Grove Village's Tedra Tado (2,590) and Machesney Park Harlem's Sammi Hagerman (2,588) and Lindsey Anderson (2,585).

"I just had a lot of support from my family and friends and it just really pumped me up," said Petoskey, who started the day in 23rd place. "Knowing that I had nothing to lose just made me bowl better. I wanted to win but you can't really get everything you want. Third is really good so I'm happy with that."

Plainfield Central was happy by finishing second in the team standings with 12,185. That was the fifth-highest total in state history but not enough to hold off Harlem, which trailed the Wildcats by 22 pins to start the day but wound up with a state-record 12,533.

Senior Tricia Zimmerman placed eighth with 2,565 to lead the Wildcats to the highest finish of any sports team in school history.

"It feels great because we set a school record," said Zimmerman, who will bowl at Ashford. "It's our senior year. We couldn't have asked for more."

Plainfield's all-senior lineup also included Chelsea Oshita (13th, (2,553), Jordan Leikel (32nd, 2,420), Samantha Burchart (43rd, 2,367) and Aileen Maguire (61st, 2,280).

"At the beginning of the year we were hoping to place at state," Zimmerman said. "As the season went on we never fizzled out. We stayed strong and we were more confident coming into this tournament."

Senior Vickie Hall became the first Hinsdale South medalist since 1993 by taking ninth (2,563) and Kelsey Johnson of Oswego East was 10th (2,562).

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