On-screen animation sequences exist for a handful of accomplishments at Bowling Green Sports Center in West Chicago.
Mike Wilkins’ rise to the role of co-captain of the Geneva boys bowling team isn’t programmed into the database, but all you’d need is an image of the Vikings senior and a lightning bolt, and you’d have a start.
Wilkins competed in basketball as a freshman but ultimately quit and joined bowling “kind of because my friends were doing it,” he said.
A few years later, he and the Vikings are bidding to build on the best season in the program’s short history. Geneva advanced to sectionals in 2014-15 and is eager to take the next step behind Wilkins, classmate and fellow co-captain Max Spencer and a mixture of returners and promising newcomers.
“We’re off to a strong start. … Our core group of guys are pretty good, and we have other guys who are really just beginners,” Geneva coach Jordan Zimberoff said. “So it’s interesting this year. We’ll see how we do.
Seniors Mario Gelfuso and John Zupke join Spencer and Wilkins as team leaders, helping foster an environment that blends competitiveness and enjoyment.
Sure, the Vikings take their craft seriously, but they also realize they’re honing it at a bowling alley, where the aforementioned animations and other sound effects can be difficult to overlook.
“It’s really the chemistry; we really get along well,” Wilkins said. “And that helps us keep streaks going and get out of cold streaks, when we can pick each other up or cheer each other on as we’re doing well. I think that’s really a key part of it.”
There’s plenty of time for younger bowlers to get acclimated, too. The competition season spans from early November through the final weekend of January, when the state tournament descends on St. Clair Bowl in downstate O’Fallon.
“We don’t have a whole lot of depth, but we’ll be competitive in conference and hopefully in some of the tournaments that we’re at,” Zimberoff said. “We think at the end of the year we’ll have a decent shot at moving on to sectionals, then after that we have to have a good day to have a chance to go on to state.”
Geneva will welcome its latest challenge Thursday when it hosts fellow Bowling Green tenant St. Charles East in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division dual.
The Saints finished third in the state last season, and often loom as a barometer for the Vikings, especially when East and Geneva entertain separate programs simultaneously.
“It feels like as they build up, then we feel the pressure to build up,” Wilkins said. “The competition in the alley kind of helps each other get better. … A lot of days we’ll have meets right next to them, and it’s kind of cool to watch what they’re doing, see if we can beat them even if we’re not competing that day.”
• Kevin Druley is sports editor of the Kane County Chronicle. He can be reached at 630-845-5347 or kdruley@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinDruley.