Sophomores pave way for resurgent MHS girls

By: James McKeever
   When this year’s bowling season began, the Monroe High School girls’ team had only two players with varsity experience. And both were sophomores.
   With so many new kids, some of whom had never bowled at all on the high school level, coach George Packard knew the Falcons would take their lumps. Monroe started the season 1-5 and 2-7.
   Since then the Falcons have showed some signs of creeping back to respectability. Prior to Wednesday’s match against state power Woodbridge, Monroe had a 6-11 record, going 4-4 in its previous eight matches.
   "We’re young but we’re improving," Packard said. "They’re learning how to throw good a good first ball to make the spare easier. Many of the kids are getting the feel of what it takes to compete at this level. But they’re hanging in there.
   We’d like to have a few more wins to show for our improvement, but that doesn’t always happen."
   Much of the team leadership responsibilities fell on the shoulders of Shannon Weber and Nicole Chasan, who were on the team as freshmen last year when Monroe went 9-9. With added pressure to carry the team, they have held up their end of the bargain.
   "They have bowled well for us and have been our two most consistent bowlers," Packard said. "Jen Matikonis has been a pleasant surprise. She’s had a good average, around 148-150. With those three sophomores coming back as our nucleus, maybe we can build something for next year."
   On Monday Monroe went 2-0 in a tri-match, sweeping South Amboy and Perth Amboy. Weber turned in a 418 series, Matikonis a 413 and Sharon Geiger rolled a 402. Geiger is a senior bowling in high school for the first time.
   Monroe’s score in a match vs. Colonia on Tuesday (2054) was higher than Monday’s (2017), but Colonia won 4-0. Weber shined with a 484, Chasan produced a 438 and Geiger bowled a 408.
   After an 11-day layoff due to the holidays, the Falcon boys team got right back to work on Monday, sweeping Perth Amboy and South Amboy. On Tuesday Monroe recorded its highest series of the season – 3171 – to beat Colonia 4-0 and improve to 15-0-2.
   Monroe wrapped games of 1016 and 1033 around a 1122. The biggest contributors in the match were Greg Puleio (697 set with a 278 game), T.J. Van Gorden (678, 268) and Eric Wysokowski (631, 236).
   Wysokowski put together games of 246-266-224 for a 736 on Monday. Van Gorden had a 668 set with games of 235-221-212.