MTHS girls bowling team gets to states for first time

By: James McKeever
   When the Monroe girls bowling team walks into Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes on today (Friday) to compete in the NJSIAA state finals, it will be making school history.
   In the 12-year history of the school’s bowling program, no girls team has ever qualified for the finals – until this year’s group.
   "We’re very proud of the accomplishment," said senior Nicole Chasan, a varsity bowler for four years. "We were shocked because we weren’t favored to win."
   The Falcons almost did win the Central Jersey Group II championship back on Feb. 3. They finished second behind Manasquan, but the top two teams from each of the four groups earned a trip to the finals.
   "We were happy to advance, but we wanted to win it of course," said Monroe coach George Packard. "The kids are very excited and they should be, it’s a good accomplishment."
   Chasan is one of four seniors in the Falcons’ five-bowler lineup.
   Shannon Weber, Nicole Santiago and Jen Matikonis are the other 12th-graders. Junior Noelle Trinkler completes the lineup.
   The Falcons took the lead after bowling an 821 in the first game.
   "We were leading, but only by two pins (over Manasquan)," Chasan said. "That’s when we realized that we had a chance. We needed to keep it going. In the second game we improved our score (883), but we were tied for first. In the third game we started to get a little nervous and kind of fell apart. Our score dropped like 100 pins. We had never been in that position before. I wasn’t sure if we would make it after that."
   What followed, according to Chasan, was a 30- to 45-minute wait for the final scores to be tabulated. Packard got the scores and came over to address his team.
   "He told us the news slowly and started off by saying that if we had bowled the third game like we bowled the first two, that we would have won," Chasan said. "Then he said, ‘But you scored high enough to qualify.’ Then we all screamed."
   Going into the final game Manasquan and Monroe were tied for first place with 1,704 pins. Manasquan earned the title by outscoring the Falcons 797-730 in the final game to finish at 2,501. Monroe’s total was 2,434 – 31 pins better than third-place J.F. Kennedy.
   Chasan enters the state finals with mixed emotions. She’ll be excited and a little nervous, but also sad.
   "Bowling in my last high school match will be sad," said Chasan, who said she will attend Rutgers in the fall. "I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for four years. We’ll probably be a little nervous at first, since it’s the first time we’ve ever been in the finals. But we know what to do. And it’s our home lanes so we should be comfortable there."
   The Monroe boys ended their season last Saturday in the Central Jersey sectionals. The Falcons rolled a 2,760 series to place fourth in Group 2 behind Ewing (2,878), Wall (2,864) and J.F. Kennedy (2,774).