One day after an early-season practice, seniors Ryan Foy and Conley Utz gathered the New Trier boys bowling team for a dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Northbrook.
For more than two hours, the bowlers ate wings and talked about the season ahead, according to Utz. The idea, he said, was to create a close-knit culture.
“I felt the past couple of years the teams drifted apart and didn’t feel like teams,” said Utz, a co-captain with Foy. “We wanted people on our team to be friends, to have relationships outside of school. That’s why we started doing these team-bonding things.”
According to Utz, team-bonding activities helped the Trevians persevere through a slow start and reach the state tournament. At St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon on Friday, Jan. 29, the Trevians took 24th out of 24 teams at state with 5,410 pins.
Connor Cook, a senior, was the only bowler at the restaurant that night who was new to the program. He admitted he was nervous at first, but he quickly warmed up to his teammates.
“They started telling me funny stories,” he said. “I found out how they got their nicknames.”
The best one Cook heard belonged to junior Kalani Rennoe, who moved from Hawaii to Illinois before high school. Trevians coach Andrew Juedes said he encouraged Rennoe to join the bowling team his first year at New Trier as a way to meet people.
“Flyin’ Hawaiian,” Cook said, recalling Rennoe’s teammate-given moniker with a laugh. “He moved here from Hawaii, started bowling and they told me he took off with the sport, so they called him that. It was a fun night. It’s a real community. We ended up really getting to know each other.”
Another popular hangout spot for the Trevians was the Northfield Restaurant. They often ate there before Saturday tournaments. Food wasn’t the only thing they bonded over. One time they traveled to Norridge to play laser tag at Laser Quest. On several occasions, they met at a teammate’s home to hang out.
New Trier started the season slowly, finishing 2-6 in Central Suburban League dual meets and 2-9 overall. But the team posted a third-place finish at the conference’s tournament before advancing through the regional and sectional tournaments to the state meet.
New Trier didn’t make the cut, which is saved for the top 12 teams, and advance to Saturday, Jan. 30.
Foy and Utz finished 1-2 for New Trier. Foy scored 1,130, and Utz had 1,112. Junior Jordan Wilson was third on the team with 1,098 pins. He was followed by Rennoe (1,056) and Cook (873). Cook bowled five of the six games. Junior Dylan Santacruz competed in one game and knocked down 141 pins.
“I’m not sure New Trier bowling has ever had such a cohesive team,” said Juedes, who was an assistant when the Trevians advanced to the state meet in 2014. “I really think the way they got to know each other and supported each other was a reason why they got that far. They were very invested in one another.”
Although Cook, Foy and Utz won’t be back next season, Utz said the whole team spent part of the six-hour bus ride from O’Fallon to Winnetka on Friday night talking about how they all would remain in touch with one another.
“We had such a great time as a team this season, so we want to keep that going, even though we won’t be bowling,” Utz said. “We made a deal with each other to meet up at least once a month. We want to continue our friendships.”
Matt Harness co-hosts a weekly golf podcast called Teeing Off. Find it on Twitter (@Teeing__Off) or at www.facebook.com/teeingoffpodcast and on iTunes.
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Twitter: @harnesspreps