By: James McKeever
With the high school bowling season getting underway this week, enthusiasm created by the boys and girls teams is bubbling over at South Brunswick.
Vikings followers remember last season, when the boys team followed up a sub-par regular season by capturing the GMC Tournament championship.
The girls team had a 15-5-1 record a year ago and featured the GMC individual champion. Both squads look even better heading into this winter’s campaign.
"I feel very positive about this season," said girls coach Tara Burniston, who coached both teams last season but handed over the boys reins to Mike Andrusiewicz. "I have a great bunch of girls. They all have set high personal goals and everybody wants to improve." The Vikings’ girls team finished third in the GMC Red Division and knows it will have to bowl up to its potential to challenge perennial power Woodbridge (16-0 last year).
Cyndi Fregoni, the 2003 GMC tournament winner, graduated along with Lisa Hanan. That duo averaged 194and 174, respectively.
To offset those losses, the Vikings counter with three returning seniors: Lauren Sohmer, Lisa Nicolaison and Laura Smith. Sohmer joined Fregoni on the GMC All-Red Division team last year after averaging 182. Nicolaison averaged 155 and Smith produced a 142. Sophomore Mary Lynn Olsen (152) is another returning bowler.
Depth is coming in the form of Christine Kelly, a junior moving up from JV, and Suzanne Bleacher, a freshman.
"Our four returning bowlers are looking even better this year," said Burniston. "And we have a few newcomers who look very promising."
Andrusiewicz is no stranger to the program. A teacher in the high school, he coached the boys team for three years before taking the last two seasons off. He followed last year’s team closely, when the Vikings finished seventh in the GMC Red Division with a10-11-1 record before making their improbable GMC title run.
Leading this season’s team are co-captains Ben Bleacher, a senior coming off a 179-average season, and junior Robby Kohutanycz, who produced a 191. Put those two with junior Billy Orchard (183) and sophomore Grant Singer (168) and Andrusiewicz feels the Vikings can make up the void left when Ross Winiarz (207) and Corey Weiss (179) graduated.
What has Andrusiewicz smiling the most is his team’s depth. Matt Lenza and Matt Forthun fill out South Brunswick’s six-man team. Lenza is a senior who bowled for the Vikings two years ago, but moved out of state for his junior year. Forthun is a talented freshman.
"We have six very solid bowlers," the coach said. "In years past we had five solid bowlers but if someone had a bad game there usually wasn’t a good sixth bowler to pick up his score. But we have depth this year. We have six solid and we like our first alternate, who will be John Schulter.
"Overall I think we’re stronger this year."
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Both South Brunswick teams opened the season on Monday against Woodbridge. The boys lost 3-1, racking up a 2890 total. Woodbridge rolled a 2971. The girls fell 4-0, as Woodbridge knocked down 2881 pins to the Vikings’ 2547.
The next day the Viking squads came back to defeat Colonia. The girls won 3-1, outscoring Colonia, 2543-2244. Lauren Sohmer had a 237 game and a 601series.
The boys shut out Colonia 4-0, recording 2996 pins to the opponent’s 2694. Matt Forthun scored games of 259 and 244 in a 698 series.
