Last year, the bar was set and it was set high. Placing in the top 16 last year the girls bowling team had bigger expectations going into this year. Then, after being runner-up in the district championship on Oct. 30, they had a new goal: to place in the top eight in the state.
The bowling program has accomplished many feats this year, including the girls team making it to the state championship for the second year in a row.
With a regular season record of 15-2, there was an expectation to excel in the offseason.
Wednesday, Nov. 7 was qualifying day, and the lone participant from the boys team, senior Logan Furlong, qualified second. The girls qualified 10th.
The girls team placed runner-up in the district championship to advance to states while the boys placed third. The leading scorer for the girls, senior Maya Paiva, scored a 721 in a four game total.
“I performed well, maybe not the best on some games, but overall I’m happy with how my team and I did.” Paiva said.
The team placed 10th overall in qualifying and won the first match against Cambridge Christian in the double-elimination round before losing the next two to Oviedo and Sebring to end in the top 10. In the Baker format, five people bowl two frames each in a 10-frame game.
Coach Leesa Burr led the team, and despite not reaching the top eight, she was happy with the team’s performance. This was Burr’s last year as head coach, though, as assistant coach Heather Douglas will take over next year.
“Our goal was to finish better at states than last year and we did that,” Burr said.
As three of the five girls are graduating this year, next year will be a rebuilding year. For the boys, two of the five are graduating.
Furlong qualified second with a four-game total of 926, but he finished 13th overall after losing his opening match in the double elimination round but battling back through the consolation bracket.
“I’m overall happy about my performance and how I carried myself,” Furlong said. “When in emotional and pressure-filled moments, I handled it well.”
The only other time Furlong qualified for states was his freshman year, with the team placed fifth overall.
“Freshman year was a lot more fun since my team was behind me,” Furlong said.
Even though the boys did not make it to states as a team, boys coach Keith Coville thought highly of Furlong and the girls’ team on their accomplishments this year as well.
“I am very proud of each athlete on both our boys and girls teams,” Coville said. “Not only are they great students, but they exhibited great sportsmanship and professionalism throughout the entire season.”
The full scores and bracket are on the FHSAA website at www.fhsaa.org.

Gallery | 3 Photos

Sophmore Chase Wajda with his second roll against Crooms.