Lockport senior girls bowler Isabella Colon won the Herald-News’ Athlete of the Week voting last week. She collected a total of 122 votes out of the 312 votes cast. Colon placed sixth individually and led the Porters to the state championship at the IHSA girls bowling tournament.

JHN: How long have you been bowling?

Colon: It started when I was about five. My dad would take me to the bowling alley and I would watch him bowl. Then, my sister was a bowler at Lockport, and I watched her. My first tournament was when I was about 11, and I have been bowling pretty much every week since.

JHN: Do you plan to bowl in college?

Colon: Definitely. I am looking at a few schools, a couple in state and a couple out of state. I haven’t made any decision yet. I am going to study either cyber security or computer science, and almost every college offers something like that, so I am looking for the best opportunity to bowl.

JHN: How did it feel to go out on top?

Colon: It was my senior year, so I figured why not go out with a bang? We unofficially won state last year, but it was nice to get that big IHSA trophy that we could put in the trophy case at school.

JHN: Was the state title a goal this year?

Colon: I would say it was. A few of the girls on the team won state in middle school, so they wanted to win it in high school, too. It was good that we worked so hard for it and pushed each other.

JHN: Were you close as a team?

Colon: At the beginning, it was hard. I had to take a break for a bit, but then Coach [Linda Siezega] pushed us to be more of a team. Without that, I don’t know what might have happened. Like, we are still in touch with each other. Other years, the season would be over, and we wouldn’t keep in touch. I was fortunate to find a great group of friends.