In what it hoped to be a strong return from finals, the Girls’ Varsity Bowling Team fell short against Stevenson in Monday’s match by an overall score of 2350-2303.
Senior Aidan Stavros bowled the highest score on New Trier’s team with a 520 total.
“It’s hard to go a week without bowling and then straight into a match,” Stavros said.
Coming in a close second place for the team was senior Sooahn Ko who bowled a 483 overall. Ko’s strategy is to completely relax and listen to the encouragement her teammates have for her. “We are competitive, but we also want to have fun.”
The girls agreed that it was difficult to have finals week right in the middle of the season. Some players utilized the bowling alley as a way for stress relief while others avoided it all together focusing on studying.
“It’s not so easy living life in the fast lane, so many bowlers took some time off to study for finals,” commented Stavros.
Varsity coach, David Hjelmgren, added, “Finals are tough for us because they fall right in the middle of our season and obviously education comes first. We fell flat Monday night which was expected after a week off.”
Before this match against Stevenson, New Trier was undefeated with a sterling record of 6-0. Earlier in the season, the Trevians took down the Patriots, which was Stevenson’s only loss.
However, Stevenson is not the team’s true rival. “Our biggest rivalry is with Evanston and this year we beat them both times we played them, which was a huge win for the team,” junior Athena Vassilos explained.
Putting up a tough fight, the team finished their season on Wednesday against Hinsdale Central. They lost the match with a total score of 2848-2602. Hjemgren said that this was the team’s second highest match. Ko also bowled a New Trier bowling record with a 585 series.
The Trevians final record was 6-2 and they are now looking forward to and preparing for regionals on Feb. 7.
“We are also expecting to move on to sectionals for the first time as a team this year” Ko said. The whole team is very excited for the matches they will be competing in.
When asked about any team rituals or ways to prepare right before a match, the players talked about their team captains who share encouraging words and get every one ready and focused to bowl.
“We do the ‘we don’t mess around’ cheer,” said Stavros. I think it’s a great way to bring the team together and get our heads in the lane.”
Each player explained how important their teammates are during matches and practices which is crucial heading into regionals. “There’s a lot of teamwork in supporting each other and helping each other out,” concluded Vassilos.