On Dec 6, New Trier boys bowling placed ninth out of twenty five other Illinois teams at the 2014 Cougar Classic.
The bowling season is halfway over, stretching from October to the end of January, and the Trevians have stayed consistent throughout this season.
The team has scored a total of 5,473 points. The head boys bowling Coach Scott Durkin was extremely proud of his team’s results this weekend.
“The best game we bowled was this tournament [Cougar Classic] against many of the best teams in the state. It was amazing to place top ten.” Said Durkin.
New Trier Junior, Ryan Foy, bowled a near perfect game, scoring 276 points. A perfect game in bowling will add up to 300 points, as a result of 12 strikes. Foy bowled 10 strikes and placed 21st out of the top 25 bowlers at the tournament.
“Bowling a score of 276 this weekend was really eye opening to me because it showed that getting 10 strikes in a row is doable and it’s really hard for many players to stay consistent in order to score a perfect game,” said Foy.
Stevenson placed first with 6,278 points in the Cougar Classic, with three of their players placing in the top ten bowlers of the tournament.
Having already lost their first game against Stevenson, the team is prepared for their second match on Dec 11.
In this match they hoped to defeat Stevenson and try to settle the score after the football’s loss to Stevenson in the playoffs in November, but some scores can never be settled.
Another natural rival this year for New Trier is Evanston. The Varsity team has beaten Evanston in the past and they placed higher in the tournament this year. They faced Evanston again on Dec 18.
The team has faced some difficulties this year with the majority being younger and lacking experience.
Most of the 22 players this season, are coming from the sophomore class. The Varsity squad is made up of one senior, two juniors and four sophomores.
“We have a generally young team this year. We graduated a lot of our starting varsity last year,” said Durkin.
Most bowling teams often have trouble with a young team because of the lack of knowledge from new players.
“They show up and the most they’ve ever bowled is at a birthday party with bumpers. We don’t have a feeder program,” said Durkin.
New Trier has tackled this problem by teaching their five new freshmen and setting the standard of what it takes to be a good bowler for prospective players.
The bowling team has a practice and competition schedule similar to basketball or baseball. The team practices every day after school at Classic Bowl in Morton Grove and participates in two to three matches a week with tournaments on the weekend.
“Some students don’t realize how big of a commitment bowling is. Many think it’s a club and not a serious sport. We practice as much as any other New Trier sport,” said Durkin.
Contrary to what non-bowlers may think, matches and tournaments are not boring and yawn-worthy. They are just as exciting as any IHSA sport.
“It’s not just a secluded thing in some lazy bowling alley. It’s competitive. There’s cheering and yelling and high-fiving. It’s just like any other sport, just bowling ball instead of basketball,” said Durkin.
Last year, the boys bowling team were regional champions, placed second in sectionals and competed downstate for the IHSA state title. Durkin hopes to do the same this season by returning to the state finals, and perhaps improving on last year’s finish.