Joliet West basketball teams usually get the most attention during the winter. But what very few fail to understand is that both the boys and girls bowling teams have been making strides as a program in the past years. This year is no different. Throughout the year the bowling teams have been racking up their wins like there is no tomorrow. With the girls bowling starting the playoffs this weekend I walk to one of their senior bowlers about how the season has gone so far. Also, with the boys season already wrapped up, I talked to a couple of their senior bowlers right before it ended about what their adversity looked like leading into state. Let’s start with the boys team. 

In particular, I asked senior Nick MacDonald, what the most challenging part of the season has been for him leading up to state. “Obviously with any sport it’s gonna be physically challenging and that is true with bowling but I am gonna have to say that the season has been mostly mentally challenging for me”. The senior bowler said, “I feel most of the time I can strike a lot but then I reach the point where I mentally fall out of it…” MacDonald hopes to individually place top twenty-five but more importantly he said, he hopes he and his team take first collectively. 

I also got a chance to catch up with another senior on the bowling team. Senior, Avram Savage. The big question I wanted to ask Avram was how he and his team have prepared for the big weekend that is the state finals. “We’ve been talking about our motto this season a lot. We’ve had many people come up to us and tell us that we wouldn’t make it out of sectionals, or we wouldn’t make it to day two of state, but looking where we are now, we are proving every single one of them wrong.” Avram didn’t only talk about how they proved the team’s doubters wrong, but also what the team has done to each other to keep their mindset strong throughout this journey. “We practice as one, we win as one, and we lose as one. That’s one thing I’m gonna miss after this year was the bond we have as a team. So we’re doing our best to make this the best year possible.” Nick, Avram, and the rest of the team ended up finishing eighth as a while individually, Tyler MacDonald, finished third. Congrats to the boys bowling team on a very successful season! We wish all of you the best of luck for the future. 

Although the boys team has had a pretty successful season to say the least, the girls team are no slouch either. They are a couple weeks behind the boys team but they have been just as successful leading up to this point. They will be partaking in their conference this weekend and I got the chance to sit down and chat with senior bowler, Maddie Millsaps. I asked Millsaps what her expectations were for this season and if she had met them. “I have set many goals for myself this season but my main goals I have not exceeded my goals yet for this season.” Even with her not meeting certain goals, the senior bowler still has high hopes for what is to come. “We still have post season coming up and I’m hoping to meet my goals in the next few weeks.” she added. I also asked Millsaps what she hopes to accomplish the remainder of the season. “What I hope to accomplish the rest of my season individually is average 180 and just be proud of how I throw the ball each day. Millsaps had added on talking about what she hopes her team can accomplish as well. “As a team I would like to accomplish winning state, or at least placing top three. This will be my final year bowling with Joliet West so leaving with a big win would be the ultimate accomplishment.” The girls team won conference in convincing fashion, creating some big momentum heading into the playoffs. Be sure to come out and support Milsaps and the rest of the girls team as they hope to make a deep playoff run in hopes to win a state title. We all wish the girls the absolute best of luck the rest of the way.