The Shaler Area Girls Varsity Bowling team bowled a very successful season, achieving multiple long time goals, including winning sections and making it to the Western PA Regionals with 7 girls.
Shawn Pilyih, the head coach of the team, expressed how grateful he was for this year’s team’s success.
“We were successful because of teamwork and the willingness to improve. When we worked together and were open to coaching decisions we were at our best and that was the secret to our success this season,” Coach Pilyih said.
Some of the leading scores from this season included games adn series from team captain junior Brooke Callahan. She achieved the highest game with 214 and the highest 3 game series of 621. Freshman Mackenzie Woistman had a high average of 175.43. Kayla Lowery, also a freshman, achieved her varsity spot as well.
This season, there were three new students that joined the team, some who had never played before. Junior Evelyn Lanier expressed how much she enjoyed herself and how much she improved even though she was in the “learning phase” for the majority of the season.
“I love the girls and I love the team. Even though sometimes I sucked and wasn’t as successful as I wanted to be, I always had so much fun,” Lanier said.
One version of fun that they have that helps the team bond is the “The Chain”. In bowling, rolling three strikes in a row is called a turkey. To incorporate fun and keep the positive energy flowing, the team passes around a fake black chain with a stuffed animal turkey on it. It helped push the team to be even better, just for a chance to be able to wear the famous chain.
Coming back from next season after falling short last year at Sections, Pilyih had a list of goals and expectations he hoped the team would be able to achieve and he really made sure to push his team to be the best that they could be.
“My expectation for the season was to make a run at the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League (WPIBL) title and a run at a trip to the state championships. I also want the girls to improve their game from the previous season. We accomplished these goals. It is always a tough challenge to win at the WPIBL championships and the Western PA Regionals, but we managed to stay in the conversation until the end.”
