JOLIET – Bailey Delrose looked like she had hurt her chances of capturing top honors in Saturday’s Plainfield North’s Strikefest at Town and Country Lanes after rolling a 191 in her fifth game of the prestigious girls bowling tournament.
But the Lockport sophomore saved her best effort for last and walked away with a 38-pin victory over Prospect’s Arieana Upshaw for the individual championship in the 44-team competition.
Delrose posted a 289 in her final game to give her a 737 afternoon series and a 1,392 effort for the day, which helped lift Lockport to a 5,905 total and second place in the event by 10 pins over Joliet West.
Schaumburg turned in a 5,985 to finish ahead of the defending state champion Porters for a tournament title for the second weekend in a row.
Beside her 289 game being among the five highest in Porter history, her 1,392 total for six games ranks second all-time in the program. She opened the day with a 655 series, which featured a 243 in her third game and then started the afternoon session wit a 257 game.
“I’m so proud of myself for how I did today,” Delrose said. “The atmosphere here was so hectic, which makes it even sweeter when you do so good. I had a 191 in there so I know that I could have done better, but you can’t roll a 200 all of the time. I’m really encouraged by the way that we’ve been bowling lately. We just have a couple of mental things that we need to get over. We all really like the pressure because that just makes us work even harder.”
Coach Art Cwudzinski’s Porters also received a ninth-place showing from Nikki Mendez, who combined 679 and 584 series for a 1,263 total. Her best game was a 251 to conclude the morning session. Also, Paige Reiter posted an 1163 for 35th place.
Lockport opened with a 2,919 series and closed with a 2,986, with its best game being a 1,039 in the finale.
Joliet West was led by Gracie Plese, who took fourth with a 1,300 that featured a 633 in the morning and a 667 in the afternoon. She also had her best game, a 267, in the finale.
“I had no idea how strong we’d be this year, but we came into today undefeated,” Plese said. “We were in first place for awhile and even though we didn’t end as well as I wanted to, third place in the gold division is absolutely outstanding. We don’t see some of these teams until state, so it’s a good experience to see what we’ll be going up against at he end of the year. The thing that I like about our team is our confidence going into every game.”
Coach Jeff Bailey’s Tigers also got an 11th-place effort from Taylor Bailey, who put together 631 and 608 series for a 1,239 total. Also Kaylee Zukovich rolled an 1,171, which was good for 27th place, and Karlee Barton finished with an 1,136, which placed her 42nd. West also saved its best game for last, rolling a 1,033 for a 2,960 series after posting a 2,935 earlier.
Minooka rolled a 2,697 in the morning but missed advancing out to gold division by one spot. But it turned in a 2,947 in the afternoon win of the silver division title. It’s 5,644 total was the sixth-best of the day.
The Indians were led by Nora Russell, who followed up on a 535 with a 714 series for a 1,249 total, which was good for tenth. Carmella Russell had an 1,174 for 26th place and Kristina Sickler placed 44th with an 1,133.
Also in the gold division, Plainfield South finished ninth with a 5,488 while Lincoln-Way West was 11th with a 5,462 total. The Cougars went 2,819 in the morning and 2,669 in the afternoon, while the Warriors started with a 2,820 but concluded with a 2,642.
Leading the way for South was Paige Kwiatkowski, who took sixth with a 1,279. She rolled a 669 in the morning and followed with a 610. The Cougars also got a 16th-place showing from Cassie Bucaro, who went 627 and 593 for a 1,220 total.
“This was very exciting,” Kwiatkowski said. “Our team did really good and we stuck together throughout the whole day. This was our first time in the gold in a long time, so that felt good. I like how we all stick together and push each other and our spirits are always high.”
Lincoln-Way West was led by Jessie Schram (1,141), who was 39th, Ellie Paul (1,133), who took 43rd and Makayla Turner (1,116), who placed 49th.
Plainfield East’s Kristin Ruzicka (1,147) was 37th, Plainfield North’s Elizabeth Auriemma (1,144) took 38th, Morris’ Amy Waldron (1,124) finished 47th, Plainfield Central’s Kristen Carr (1,123) took 48th and Lemont’s Kyla Owens (1,114) was 50th.