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Sports

Andrew Punches Ticket for Girls State Bowling Meet

Sophomore Nicole Zopf leads the way for Thunderbolts at the Andrew Sectional; Lincoln-Way North's Kelsey O'Brien wins top individual honors.

ORLAND PARK–The Minooka High School girls bowling team is picking the right time to peak.

Although the Indians haven’t completely peaked yet, they are on the way up the hill after winning their second straight sectional championship at the Andrew Sectional on Saturday at Orland Bowl.

Minooka rolled a 5,955 to advance to the state meet for the sixth time in school history. The Indians are making their fifth appearance in the last six years. They took third in the state in 2005, but haven’t made it to the second day at the state meet the last three trips.

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“As soon as it was over, we talked about this is not just about getting to the state tournament, it’s about competing at the state tournament,” Minooka coach Frank Yudzentis said. “It’s an honor to be there. We accomplished a goal we set today, but it’s not over. We have one more week.”

The same goes for Andrew, which took the second state berth by rolling a 5,823 to reach the state meet for the second time in school history. The Thunderbolts reached the state meet in 2007.

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Andrew, which does not feature a senior starter, was led by sophomore Nicole Zopf, who posted a 1,273, which was good for third place.

Sophomore Cassie Boat (1,226), junior Ashley Stefanski (1,135) and junior Jenny Hallas (1,113) also performed well for the Thunderbolts.

Winning the sectional championship and advancing as an individual was Lincoln-Way North’s Kelsey O’Brien, who posted a 1,293 six-game total. Teammate Kayla O’Brien took the other individual spot with a 1,252, which was good for fifth.

“Our girls kept their composure the entire day,” Yudzentis said. “We had a couple of girls struggle, but everybody picked them up. We haven’t had that one big score, yet. We have three or four girls who are capable of doing that. If it happens, it happens.”

Making it happen for Minooka was Courtney Johnston and Emily Koulis, who took home top five medals.

Johnston, a junior, rolled a 1,280 to take second. Koulis, a freshman, placed fourth with a 1,258 six-game series. Sophomore Danielle Grygiel (1,225), senior Ashley Dylik (1,134) and sophomore Alyson Lakota (1,058) also contributed for the Indians, who feature just one senior starter.

“Koulis opened three times in the 10th frame,” Yudzentis said. “Lakota and Dylik each struggled and pressed a little bit. But, they settled down and both bowled 590 in the afternoon.”

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