DeKALB – Makala Rae said she knew she needed a strong finish if she was going to make the IHSA Girls Bowling State Tournament.

The DeKalb senior said she kept a positive attitude and did what she needed to do, qualifying as an individual out of the Kaneland Sectional on Saturday.

Sycamore qualified as a team by taking third, with Megan Kolberg winning the sectional for the Spartans.

Rae becomes the first DeKalb girl to make the state tournament since 2012 according to IHSA records, when the Barbs qualified as a team.

"It feels good," Rae said. "A DeKalb girl hasn't been to state in a while. It feels good to be the first girl to make it since then."

Rae rolled a 1,223 to earn the final qualifying spot by 10 pins over Jacobs' Brianna Schmidt. She went into the final game up 34, but was sitting on a 131 in the eighth before two strikes and a spare to finish at a 180.

"I just told her she needed to pick it up and stay clean," DeKalb coach Mike Davis said. "As long as she stayed focused she was in pretty good shape after lunch. In the morning it's just placement, after that it's go time. And she went. And now she's moving on."

The Spartans posted a 6,002 as a team, including a 3,220 in the morning session. Harlem won with a 6,438 and Oregon was second with a 6,182.

"I just feel like I was very consistent all day," Kolberg said. "I didn't have many opens. I stayed calm, I didn't freak out about certain things and it just all fell where it should of."

Sycamore coach Andy Hampton said he was glad the team was returning to Rockford.

"I couldn't be any more proud than I am today," Hampton said. "This year has been a lot of work. We've got a freshman starting for us, another freshman who's an alternate for us. We've got four seniors and we really wanted this to be a special year for them. I couldn't be happier than to take them to Rockford one more time."

By the numbers: Kolberg won by 41 pins over Oregon's Rebecca Meyers. Sycamore's Maddie Lathrop was 10th with a 1,232 and Rae was 13th overall. Kaneland's Alexis Vittal rolled a 1,106, finishing 117 pins out of the final qualifying spot.

Beyond the stats: Sycamore finished ninth last year with Kolberg taking 19th with a 2,414.

They said it: "Throughout she played very consistent," Davis said. "She missed nine or 10 spares all day, but two of them happened to be in the last game. Other than that it was pretty consistent all day and she's looking forward to next week."

Up next: The state tournament begins in Rockford on Friday and concludes Saturday.