Girls Bowling: Oswego’s Lani Breedlove bowls perfect 300 game, fifth-best series in state history

Lani Breedlove did not feel quite right bowling at a tournament over the weekend, and struggled through practice Monday.

But the Oswego senior had an intuition that something special was in store Tuesday.

“Something just clicked and I figured it out,” Breedlove said. “I had more confidence going into Tuesday.”

It came together in spectacular fashion.

At a conference dual meet with Romeoville at Bowlero, Breedlove bowled her second career perfect 300 game. Coupled with previous games of 269 and 237, Breedlove rolled a three-game series of 806. She broke Cheyanne Valdez’s school record with the fifth-best individual series by a girls bowler in IHSA history.

“I just had a weird feeling that it was going to happen,” Breedlove said. “I was really matched up with the lane. Coming into the last frame I had a feeling that if I just made shots it was going to happen.”

The anticipation certainly grew as Breedlove closed in on perfection.

“I didn’t really feel the nerves until the 10th frame. I was pretty calm until the last couple shots,” Breedlove said. “The nerves start to build and everybody starts to get quiet watching. It was definitely an intense feeling. I was just breathing and focusing on what I needed to focus on and get a good shot. Just taking it one shot at a time.”

Breedlove, who will bowl collegiately at Nebraska, took fourth place in the state as a junior, leading Oswego to third as a team. She previously bowled a 300 game in August of 2020. Her previous high series before topping the magic 800 mark in bowling was 739.

The state record of 826 is held by Oswego East’s Kristina Frahm.

“Throwing an 800 series in the bowling world is far superior than throwing a 300 game. It is much more difficult,” Oswego coach Dan Okoren said. “If you look, the best individual performance of all time was a bowler from Oswego East and Kristina didn’t throw a 300 game. It’s harder to maintain your shot over three games versus one. It’s pretty awesome that Lani met this personal bowl. It’s been on her list for a while.”

Breedlove’s big series started in inauspicious fashion, a pocket 7-10 split. She made a ball change, and the rest was history.

“I felt almost a subconscious state of mind. I wasn’t thinking about anything except being me and making shots. When a bowler is in that subconscious state of mind they’re not even aware of what they’re doing, they get in that kind of a zone and can’t get rattled,” Breedlove said. “I always wanted to shoot [the 800 series], I definitely thought it was possible but I struggle with carry on house shots so I wasn’t expecting to do it last night with high school bowling. But I always wanted to do it in my high school career.”