By Mike Moore
Sports Correspondent
A youth movement propelled the Burlington High School girls bowling team to its first state title.
With freshmen and sophomores composing 80 percent of the lineup, the Demons conquered the lanes at the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club State Championship. The event took place Feb. 28 to March 2 in Green Bay.
“We had an outstanding season,” said Coach Kelly Millard, calling the championship a more rewarding milestone than tossing a 300 game. “The girls came together at the right time.”
Burlington knocked off four opponents over two days to win the Division 2 stepladder finals. After opening the title match with a 278 to take a hefty lead in the two-game series, the Demons needed to fend off a comeback by top qualifier Antigo.
Sophomore Tiffany Block shrugged off some nerves and threw strikes on the final three balls to solidify a 441-427 win.
“It’s probably one of my greatest accomplishments,” she said of the championship while expressing pride in her team.
Millard found it impossible to single out a particular bowler’s performance at the state tournament. He called it the “most evenly talented” group he has coached in his four years at Burlington.
Team depth is essential in the Baker format, which assigns two frames to each individual bowler over the course of a game. Besides Block, the Demons’ lineup throughout the stepladder finals included sophomores Rachel Briggs, Kelsi Harris, and Robyn Konrad, and junior Hannah Witterholt.
The Demons rose to the top after finishing eighth in 2012 and third last year. It hasn’t been easy, in what the WHSBC calls the “fastest-growing high school sport this decade.” Millard said the quality of both coaching and competitors has risen.
Block sees improvement both on and off the lanes, noting that the teammates have grown closer over the past year. She led Burlington during the regular season with marks in 83.6 percent of her frames and narrowly missed qualifying for the state individual tournament.
The other five girls who competed at state were senior Amanda McGrew, sophomore Megan Schmidt, and freshmen Caley Vogt, Carson Mitchell, and Marissa Piccolo. They helped Burlington qualify for the five-team final.
Coming in as the No. 4 seed, the Demons bowled some of their best games in the stepladder finals. Those included a near-perfect 285 to open a match against La Crosse Central.
The state title culminated a strong postseason. After finishing third during the regular season, Burlington won its district tournament in Racine.
Millard noted that many of the top girls and boys teams in Wisconsin are concentrated in the Greater Racine/Kenosha Area district.
With so much young talent, the future remains bright for the Burlington girls bowling program.
“They can go a long way if they keep their heads about them,” Millard said.
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