The Girls Varsity Bowling team has concluded its fall season after competing in ten games over six weeks. The team ended its season with a 3-7 record.
The toughest competition came yesterday, the last game of the season, against Queens High School for the Sciences (QHSS), where QHSS earned a 2-1 victory over the Townsend Harris Hawks. Freshman Anna Mazur led the way with the highest point total on the team. Anna and junior Joy Piao were “two key players,” said senior captain Ditya Mehta. “I saw tremendous improvement in their scores from previous games. They put in their all while playing and during practice as well,” said Ditya. Coach Jennifer Johnson praised the team for its competitiveness and ability to focus during the game. “Once we’re here…I just trust everybody to do what needs to be done,” she said.
The game was evenly matched from the very first frame to the last, where the two teams competed in a third tie-breaking game. Ultimately, QHSS defeated the Hawks in a close match, marking the end of the team’s season. “Even when we lost, we learned from it, and I’m proud of the progress we made,” said Joy.
Sophomore Marchella Ramos said, “Everyone works hard to contribute and even when things don’t go as well as we hope, we still have each other.”
On October 7, the Hawks faced off against Jamaica Campus and won the match with a final score of 2-1. Although the score was close, sophomore captain Amanda Ng stood out by winning both of her matches, earning 138 points and four consecutive strikes in the tie-breaking round. “The game itself was really close…I think the turning point was when everyone started to focus on their forms and speed more, which led to strikes and spares, giving us the winning hand,” said Ditya.
The Hawks narrowly won Game A by three points, but fell to Jamaica Campus in Game B. However, in Game C, the Hawks beat Jamaica by nearly 70 points, with Amanda, Ditya, and senior Kathleen Chen each winning significant points for the team. During her match, Kathleen recorded her season high score of 98 points.
Senior Rubana Rabbani said, “I feel like the season was eventful. Even though the season was very short, we still tried our best in everything and continued to be consistent, especially with coach’s support.”
After losing seven seniors last season, the team faced a challenge in recruiting enough players and building up their bowling abilities. Coach Johnson said that while having a younger team was new to her, the team will continue to work and improve in the off-season. She said, “I think that the team’s gotten more experience and spoke with me about practicing throughout the year, and I think that’s a great idea so that we keep our skills sharp.”
Junior Emily Moy spoke about the community within the team: “I think that we have a positive team dynamic, as we’re really supportive of each other and are always looking to improve our bowling skills.”
Coach Johnson agreed, saying that the team’s uplifting dynamic will benefit it in future years: “[They] support each other. And that’s more important than anything.”
