Even though she is one of the best girls bowlers in the area, Evanston senior Arri Dortch said the game baffles her at times.
It happened Feb. 14 at the Rolling Meadows Sectional. She said she struggled with the lanes at the Brunswick Zone in Mount Prospect. Her 1,064 total pinfall was good for 47th, but it wasn’t enough to qualify for this week’s state meet at Cherry Bowl in Rockford. The sectional’s final individual qualifier rolled a score of 1,200.
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“It’s a tricky sport sometimes,” said Dortch, who took fourth and was the top local bowler at the Loyola Regional with a 1,175. “I’m still learning.”
After a rough three-game morning session that included scores of 171-171-170, Dortch and her coach Ray Austin adjusted her positioning and switched balls for the final three. She had her best score up to that point of the meet in the fourth game with a 201 and then followed it up with a 204. Dortch closed with a 147.
“The clock ran out on us,” Austin said.
Even though Dortch came up short of the state meet for a fourth season, Austin said Dortch has no reason to hang her head. After all, she picked up the sport as a freshman.
“We knew we had a diamond in the rough, a star on the rise,” Austin said of the three-year starter and two-year co-captain. “She had raw talent, and you could see in her heart she wanted to be a bowler. She proved us right.”
Dortch said she didn’t take bowling too seriously as a freshman and never thought she would get this good as a senior. Now, Dortch, who carried around a 180 average this season, said she’s considering bowling in college, possibly at Florida A&M.
“I looked at it like something to pass the time with friends,” she said. “But I love it, and I had a great career [at Evanston]. I love the sport, and it’s one of the few you can do as you get older.”
New Trier
The Trevians, the lone area team at the Rolling Meadows Sectional, ended their season by taking 10th out of 12 teams with a score of 4,901. It was the furthest a New Trier girls team has advanced in the state series.
Senior Aidan Stavros finished 24th with 1,132 pinfalls in six games, scoring a high of 224 in the fourth game. Senior Sooahn Ko also bowled all six games, totaling 1,017 to tie for 61st.
Niles North
Vikings sophomore Zaria Syfu finished with a six-game score of 1,101 to tie for 32nd. Senior Regina Roman followed with an 887 for the six-game series to place 87th.
Loyola
Sophomore Margaret Petersen finished 55th with 1,033 pinfalls, and sophomore Catherine Petersen took 70th with 972 pins. Both bowled all six games.
Regina
Stephanie Zalinski, a Panthers sophomore, earned a six-game score of 970 to finish 75th.
Twitter: @harnesspreps