Plainfield Central rolls to SPC title

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:34AM

For the second time in three years, Plainfield Central High School laid claim to the coveted Southwest Prairie Conference girls bowling championship after play concluded at the league meet Saturday at Echo Lanes.

Oswego won the tournament, but the Wildcats won the conference championship plaque based on their performance during the regular season and at the conference meet.

"Wow," Plainfield Central coach Connie McGrath said. "Everything kind of fell into place today. They were determined. They took off today. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Plainfield Central entered the meet with a two-point lead over Plainfield South. The Wildcats finished with 112 points after shooting a 6,153.

"That's amazing," Plainfield Central senior Sam Burchart said. "We came in here trying to keep our confidence up and we did it. This is such an amazing feeling because for most of us, this is our last year."

Burchart shot a 1,367 six-game series to take second at the meet and third, overall, in the conference.

"This feels great," Plainfield Central senior Tricia Zimmerman said. "It was definitely a team effort. We had two people shoot 1,300s today. We've had multiple people with high series throughout the year. It took a lot of work to get here and it feels good."

Zimmerman rolled a 1,352, which was third best at the meet. She was second in the league in individual points.

"To win this conference is huge because it's the best conference in the state," McGrath said.

Oswego took second with 86 points and Plainfield South, which rolled a 5,828, slipped to third with 68 points. Minooka scored 64 points to take fourth after posting a 5,838.

"We shot really well, stayed up and helped each other out," Plainfield South senior Amanda Chamberlin said. "It just wasn't enough today."

Chamberlin's effort was enough during the season and at the meet to win the individual conference championship for the second year in a row. She shot a 1,370 six-game series to earn her third all-SPC medal.

"I felt pretty good today," Chamberlin said. "I struggled at times, but I came back and my teammates helped me out a lot."

Teammate Maggie Nosaka also earned a spot on the all-conference team.

Minooka's all-SPC members were Allison Lakota and Courtney Johnston. Ivory Miles became the first all-league player from Plainfield East.

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