This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Lemont's Kyra Udziela among top 30 at Girls' Bowling State Finals

The 2013 IHSA event may have been the LHS sophomore's state finals debut, but she was up to the challenge.

Squaring off against the state’s best competition, Lemont High School sophomore Kyra Udziela spent significant time among the 10 in the individual standings before settling for a 28th-place among the 150 bowlers who began the 2013 IHSA Girls Bowling State Finals at Rockford’s Cherry Bowl Feb. 8-9.

Udziela’s total pinfall of 2,474 over 12 games left her with a 206.2 average for the event. Oswego East’s Giselle Poss, daughter of Lemont High School District 210 Director of Information Technology Jim Poss, was the individual state champion with a pinfall of 2,727 (227.3 avg.).

She advanced to the final two rounds of competition after a solid first day, in which she averaged 203.5 over six games and was one of just 23 bowlers to post 600 series in each of the first two rounds.

After the first six games of state finals competition, only the top 12 teams and the top 30 individuals from non-advancing teams advance to compete in the final two rounds of competition. Udziela finished the first day 33rd in the individual standings, posting a 617 series (227-193-197) in the morning, and a 604 series (204-172-228) in the afternoon.

Udziela was spectacular in the first series of the third day, as she was one of just four bowlers to post a 700 series in the round. Her 275 game to start the day was the second-highest score of the day and the fifth-best game by any bowler on either day of the competition. She added games of 234 and 198 to finish the third round with a 707 series, and ranked ninth in the individual standings after nine games. She posted a 546 series (176-200-170) in the fourth round.

Poss entered the final game trailing Rockford Jefferson’s Emily Malone by 36 pins, but rallied with a 226 game to win the individual title and help her team secure a second-place finish behind IHSA State Champion Waubonsie Valley.

Udziela was one of two individuals to advance to the IHSA State Finals from the rugged IHSA Plainfield North Sectional, which was held at Echo Lanes in Morris on Feb. 2. Her six-game pinfall of 1,310 (218.33 avg.) ranked seventh among all bowlers. Head coach Mark Hollatz’s squad posted a school-record team score of 5,902 to finish third behind Oswego East and Waubonsie Valley in sectional play. Udziela was one of 30 bowlers from across the state to advance to the IHSA State Finals as an individual.

Lemont’s girls’ bowling team enjoyed a terrific season, posting an undefeated record in South Suburban Conference play and winning the SSC title. Senior Nora Collins earned league MVP honors by finishing first at the SSC Meet, while Udziela and senior Lizzy Melvin earned All-SSC accolades by placing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Udziela is the first Lemont student-athlete to compete at the IHSA Girls’ Bowling State Finals since Nicole Chlipala ‘10 did so in 2010. Her 28th-place finish is the school’s best since Jenny Petzoldt ‘07 was 16th in 2005.

Girls’ bowling is the fifth Lemont High School athletic program to compete at the state level this year. The cheerleading squad finished as the runner-up at the IHSA Medium Division Cheerleading State Finals; senior Aaron Oldanie competed in the IHSA Class 2A Boys’ Cross Country State Finals; sophomore Victoria Salazar and freshman Claire Gagen each took part in the IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Cross Country State Finals; and junior Bridget Lynn competed at the IHSA Class AA Girls’ Golf State Finals.

Find out what's happening in Lemontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Editor’s note: The information above is from a press release issued by Lemont High School.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Find out what's happening in Lemontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?