Waterloo, Columbia girls bowlers advance
Bowling is alive and well in Monroe County, as two local high school girls teams can attest.
This past weekend, Waterloo placed second in the Herrin Regional and Columbia placed fourth in the Collinsville Regional to advance to this Saturday’s Alton Sectional.
In fact, Waterloo and Columbia have just one loss between them this season — the Bulldogs are 15-0 and the Eagles are 10-1-1.
Saturday in Herrin, Waterloo was led by Gabbie Hoge, who posted the third highest individual score at 1,165. She averaged a 194 through six games.
Columbia’s Miranda Rodenhofer lines up for a shot earlier this season.(John Spytek photo)
Payge Hunter was the second best bowler for the Bulldogs, posting a 1,129 total — including the overall high game of the day at 264.
Megan Vogt (1,094) and Sam Matzig (1,008) also turned in great regional performances.
“We were actually in first place for the majority of the day, but a rough fifth game cost us the lead,” head coach Matt Beck said. “We bowled above averages all day, and I was very proud to see the team work together and show their full potential.”
Saturday in Collinsville, the Columbia girls started off slow but turned it on at the end to make the cut.
“After the first game we were in seventh place (out of 12 teams), 58 pins out of fourth place,” head coach Bruce Jeffery said. “After game three we were tied for sixth place. After lunch, we started to come together as a team.”
Miranda Rodenhofer led the way for the Eagles, bowling high games of 248, 222 and 212 on her way to an overall score of 1,208 on the day — an average of 201. She posted the second highest overall individual score.
Peyton Schmidt posted an overall score of 1,108, including a 223 game. Her average for the day was 184.
Rachel Ribolzi also turned in a nice regional performance, posting an overall score of 1,052. She had a high game of 198 and an average of 175 for the day.
Both Waterloo and Columbia will compete with 10 other area teams in the sectionals at Bowl Haven in Alton this Saturday. The other teams are Alton, Collinsville, Belleville West, Highland, Herrin, Triad, Pana, O’Fallon, Salem and Mt. Vernon.
Also advancing out of the Collinsville Regional as an individual was Dupo freshman bowler Courtney Argus, who posted an overall score of 1,200.
