WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW; BOWLING: GIRLS BREAKDOWN
The last two Nassau girls championship tournaments have amounted to a late-afternoon showdown between Division and Sewanhaka District. Twice, Division held on to win, and each time the Indians’ solace was, “We’ll get ’em next year.”
And with a young core, time has been on Sewanhaka’s side. Sophomore stars Rebecca Gotterbarn, Danielle Roca and Kristina Genova have Sewanhaka District believing “next year” is now. Amanda Esteves, and Geri Lynn and Morgan Roth bolster a talented roster.
Division is led by Samantha Weissman and Theresa O’Neill, but after three consecutive undefeated seasons, the Blue Dragons now begin a rebuilding phase. “We’ll get better as we go,” coach Joanne Byrne said. “Our goal now is to make counties.”
Hicksville could be among the elite with Jackie Foran and talented sophomore Stephanie Thilbourg. Clarke is solid with Jessica Spindell and Jen Raichel. Meaghan Gratta and Danielle Tuthill lead East Meadow, and Meghan Wing and Emily Reisert could have Plainedge in contention.
Wantagh (Valerie Chin) and Massapequa (Danielle Giorgio) are in the mix, and Freeport (Rebekah Cruz and Giselle Ortiz) continues to make strides. Carle Place could be a sleeper with Leanne Iannucci and Dhara Kadakia, the winner of last year’s individual tournament.
It’s not just that East Islip won last year’s Suffolk title with a record 6,428 pinfall and took third in the state tournament. More impressive is that they did it with one senior and a bevy of underclassmen. The Redmen return loaded, led by All-Long Island Nancy Baione (218.4), Lena Sorrentino and Kelsey Fryer, along with Kristina Freitag, Jordan Kruger and Courtney McGinn.
Middle Country, which features stars Melissa Sherwin and Kelly Skalacki, could return to its championship form of 2009 with the emergence of Amanda Tyrell and Brooke Kelsey.
Jessica Calandra (206.5) leads Patchogue-Medford, last year’s county runner-up. Commack, which took third, is led by Talia Cohen and Jacqueline Castelli.
Comsewogue, looking to build on last year’s fourth-place finish, returns standouts Deanna Clark, Heather Consorte and Emily Clark. Longwood is led by Brianna Meyer (216.8) and Kylie Spillett.
Sachem East, with Jessica Caruana, Islip (Lori Greenblatt and Lindsay Abram), North Babylon (Abigail Casale) and Sachem North (Kaycie Gamblin) are in the mix.
Longwood 921 820 762 Ward Melville 635 604 631. Dec. 2
Longwood 952 1007 890 Patchogue-Medford 876 759 749. Dec. 7
Longwood 3, Patchogue-Medford 0: Brianna Meyer rolled a career-best 299 in Game 2 of a 726 series for Longwood in a 952-876, 1,007-759, 890-749 victory. The junior bowled 11 consecutive strikes. Dec. 7
Middle Country 919 956 1008 3 Longwood 804 844 896 0. Kelly Skalacki bowled a 245 in Game 3 of a 677 series to lead Middle Country in a 919-804, 956-844, 1,008-896 win. Dec. 9
Longwood 966 806 944 3 Sachem North 831 779 827 0. Dec. 14
Longwood 868 893 874 2 Commack 877 838 787 1. Dec. 16
Patchogue-Medford junior Jessica Calandra bowled 300 in the second game of a 735 series, but Pat-Med fell to Longwood, 2-1, in a Suffolk girls League II bowling match yesterday.
It was the fourth consecutive 700-plus series this season for Calandra. Brianna Meyer bowled a 212 in Game 1 of a 607 series to lead Longwood in its 798-925, 925-915, 936-837 win. Jan. 6
Longwood 798 925 936 2 Pat-Medford 925 915 837 1. Jan. 6
Longwood 937 970 957 3 Mid Country 843 864 919 0. Jan. 11
Longwood 896 952 1042 2 Sach North 938 885 900 1. Jan. 13
Longwood 1015 965 982 3 Commack 902 946 861 0. Jan. 18
East Islip girls win
For such a rousing performance, the celebration afterward was quite subdued.
Perhaps it was because by the fifth game, the only thing still in question was whether East Islip could break its own record for total wood.
The Redmen dropped 6,469 pins – 13 shy of the mark set in last season’s county tournament – and finished well ahead of Middle Country (6,075) and Longwood(5,921), capturing a second straight Suffolk championship.
Lena Sorrentino rolled a tournament-high 1,424 series, Alexa DeFazio’s 1,333 was fourth best, and Kristina Freitag had a 1,262 to lead East Islip.
The Redmen graduated only one senior last year, so the bowlers had high expectations for themselves entering this season. But who would’ve predicted a Long Island-best – that’s girls and boys – 1,044 average?
“So many of our girls stepped up and got better,” DeFazio said. “The work we put in, we felt like we earned it; we deserved this.”
Brianna Meyer (Longwood) had a 1,371 series, Kelly Skalacki (Middle Country) a 1,343, and Jessica Calandra (Patchogue-Medford) a 1,294. Feb. 5
ALL-STAR BOWLING: Tyrrell, Meyer lift Suffolk 1,213 & 1,196 series key countys first title since 98 Sherwin, Calandra help girls finish with 5,883 total
Haynes, Stephen. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 05 Mar 2012:
WAVERLY, N.Y. – When Brianna Meyer threw her last ball, she immediately spun around and began clapping as she was rushed by teammates … before a pin was even struck.
She left two of them up on that shot, by the way.
And it didn’t matter – the Suffolk girls were golden.
“I’m not that good at math, so I wasn’t completely sure we’d won,” Meyer said, “but I knew we had a lead and figured we had it locked.”
She figured correctly.
The Suffolk girls toppled 5,883 pins to capture their first Sectional All-Star championship since 1998 yesterday at Waverly’s Valley Bowling Center. Suffolk led from the get-go and threw a 1,025 in Game 6 to hold off hard-charging Section VI (5,790). The Nassau girls finished sixth with 5,221 pins.
Middle Country’s Amanda Tyrrell rolled a 1,213 series and Longwood‘s Meyer shot 1,196 – second and third best in the tournament, respectively. Middle Country’s Melissa Sherwin had a 1,162 series.
“We came in confident,” said Patchogue-Medford’s Jessica Calandra, whose 222.4 average this season set a girls record. She had 1,178 yesterday. “We weren’t cocky, but we believed in ourselves and that mind-set helped us.”
It did in the sixth game, when Section VI bowled a 1,035 and their fans and Suffolk’s fans began what Meyer called “competitive cheering,” trying to drown out each other’s chants. Tyrrell ended the back-and-forth with a 245 in Game 6.
Islip’s Lori Greenblatt had 1,092 and Middle Country’s Kelly Skalacki 1,021.
“This group was so close-knit and that made it more fun,” said Tyrrell, who transferred from Miller Place to Newfield before the season to bowl for Middle Country. “These are the six best girls I could’ve come upstate with.”
Emily McLaughlin (Island Trees) led the Nassau girls with a 1,114 series. Plainedge’s Meghan Wing shot 1,016, Dhara Kadakia (Carle Place) 1,015, Jessica Spindell (Clarke) had 1,006, Great Neck North’s Shannon Formas (966) and Bethpage’s Elizabeth Ferraro a 938.
ALL-LI TEAMS: GIRLS BOWLING
Haynes, Stephen. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 08 Apr 2012:
THE ALL-LI TEAM
Kristina Freitag I East Islip, Sr.
Freitag had a breakout senior season. Her 213.2 average was third in Suffolk and she led East Islip to an undefeated regular season and the best team average (1,044) on Long Island – among girls and boys. Down the stretch of the regular season, Freitag had a stretch of five consecutive matches in which she bowled better than a 650 series, including a season-high 730. She rolled a 1,262 in the county tournament as East Islip won a second consecutive championship.
Brianna Meyer I Longwood, Jr.
She posted a 216.5 average, good for second best in Suffolk, and led Longwood to an 11-1 season and third place in the county championship. Meyer, a two-time All-Long Island selection, shot a 1,196 and helped secure the gold for the Section XI team in the Sectional All-Star tournament.