Cougars are real alley cats

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:54AM

For perspective, consider that last year, Plainfield South won the IHSA-sanctioned state title in the sport of boys bowling by averaging 1,050 pins (five bowlers) per game for 12 games.

That's a 210 average per game per bowler.

Outrageous? You bet.

Out of reach of Vernon Hills High's current bowling squad?

Not a chance.

For the past several seasons, the Cougars have been a fixture at the state tournament, having qualified for the finals by virtue of a top-two finish at the sectional level.

This year, veteran coach Ron Long may have his best squad ever ... one capable of being a factor during the final session at state.

Time will tell, but certainly the early-season story is "so far, so good" for the Cougars.

During the holiday break, Vernon Hills competed in three tournaments against top-notch competition and won two of them.

The regular season resumes with a match today against rival Stevenson which, to the surprise of no one, also is good in the sport.

"We're not looking ahead. Right now, it's about winning our conference match (against Stevenson), said Long. "We want to try to take the conference, but it's really a step-by-step thing.

"With the sectional, there are a number of good teams there that can win it - Lake Zurich and Stevenson in particular. We have to finish first or second in the sectional, and then we can start looking at state. Talent-wise, depth-wise, this is one of our best teams ever, beyond a doubt. It just so happens some other teams in the area have gotten a lot better too."

Vernon Hills' heavy hitters are senior Nick Garpow, sophomore Eric Swanson, and senior Steven Linda.

The three actually finished 1-2-3 in the individual competition at the Brother Rice tourney two weeks ago.

After a New Year's break, the team gathered again on Wednesday for practice at its home house, Brunswick Zion Hawthorn, which is the house located behind Hawthorn Mall.

The team has been hooked up with that house ever since the days when area bowling guru Bill Spigner owned it. Spigner has long been a champion of youth bowling, and it's not a shock that Vernon Hills has emerged as a consistent state power.

As for rolling the big numbers needed to be a factor during bowling's version of March Madness, Vernon Hills' coach put it this way:

"This team is capable of a 3,000 series any day. Our high this year is around 1,190. We had a 1226 in a previous year, and this team is capable of reaching that.

"One of the great things that can be said about this team, though, is that no matter where they are in a match, they're capable of coming back. They have the drive and competitiveness to want to win. We haven't hit the peak with this team as far as what they can do.

"We've also been experimenting with the lineup most of the year and getting kids experience, so we haven't had our five top guys in there for all three games."

Each year, between 20-25 boys come out for the Cougar team and nobody gets cut.

There are two good reasons:

1) "We've really tried to build this as a team atmosphere," said Long. "We want to the kids to have a good time ... that's the bottom line."

2) "We've had kids coming in as freshman who will probably put 20-30 points on their average over the course of a single year. We had a kid last year who bowled around 110 as a freshman and was up to 200-plus by his senior year."

Enough said.

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