Girls Bowling

Basic instincts boost Saints

Emma Vitallo of St. Charles East has helped the Saints maintain their depth throughout the season. (Sandy Bressner)

By KEVIN DRULEY

Earning a berth in today’s IHSA Rolling Meadows Sectional continued a season of steady development for the St. Charles East girls bowling team.

“When we started off this season, it started with basics. What boards to use, what arrows to use,” Saints coach Tom Cole said. “And then when they started the progression down to their footing and their ball throw, everything kind of comes into place.”

East secured the fourth and final qualifying spot from last weekend’s Lake Park Regional behind a balanced attack led by senior Abby McSkimming (1,028), junior Emma Vitallo (998) and sophomore Cassie Cartee (969).

The Saints took fourth at regionals in 2015 before placing 11th at sectionals. The top four teams at sectionals advance to next weekend’s state tournament at The Cherry Bowl in Rockford.

Freshmen Meagan Markovich and Courtney McCarron also have been key contributors to the 2015-16 Saints.

“A lot of new girls come into it. Even if they had a year or two of experience at a league or something, this is different,” Cole said. “Now we’re getting more of those girls into that experience, and we’re looking to have a pretty good finish to our season.”