The pollsters are not looking at the grade levels of the players on Jackson Memorial High School’s girls bowling team (22-9), which has no seniors in the starting lineup.
The Jaguars’ starters have a combined 11 years of high school experience and three players who started last season. Still, the team cracked the top 10 in the state polls at No. 7. It comes after they finished fifth in the highly competitive Winter Classic at Carolier Lanes in East Brunswick.
“That’s our best finish in the Winter Classic in a long time. It’s a pretty big tournament,” said coach Drew Gibson, whose team is second to Howell High School in the Shore Conference A South Division. “Our scores are much, much higher than last year. We’re 70, 80 pins higher. We’re very competitive. We’re in every single match, every single game.”
Sophomore Jessica Ormsby, who was a starter throughout last season when the Jaguars were third in A South, leads the way with a 178 average as the No. 4 bowler in the lineup. At the top of the lineup are juniors Danielle Feola, a returning starter who averages 164, and Angela Sherman, a junior who broke into the starting lineup late last season. Sherman has improved her average by nearly 20 pins at 157.
The pleasant surprise has been anchor bowler Alexa Asta, a sophomore who missed last season after tearing a knee ligament in the fall on the gymnastics team. She has the high series on the team — a 650 off games of 226 and 224 that she bowled in the South Jersey Singles Tournament hosted by Manchester Township High School.
The other starter is freshman Aimee Sherman, Angela’s younger sister, who has bowled a season high 616 series off a 212 game.
Gibson has stuck with those five bowlers, and has senior Emily Flores and junior Alyssa Herres ready to step into the lineup if needed.
The team also performed well in the Brick Tournament, and Jackson Memorial hosted a junior varsity tournament for the girls and boys teams last weekend.
“I’m not surprised. I thought we had the potential to do well,” Gibson said.
He believes bowling regularly against teams from Monmouth and Ocean counties that he regards among the best in the state has sharpened his team’s competitiveness.
“We’re happy to be bowling those teams. We hope that will make us better for the tournaments,” said Gibson, as the team prepares for the state sectionals on Feb. 1, followed by the Shore Conference Tournament. “For a young team like this, it’s very important to get into these tournaments, where we have a chance to do well.”
With 170 averages as the cutoff to qualify for the individual competition of the Shore Conference Tournament, Jackson Memorial has three bowlers on target to make it in Ormsby, Asta and Aimee Sherman. Feola’s average is six pins off.
Once they get to tournament play, Gibson believes they will no longer be inexperienced, and they will be ready to put their best against the best of the area and the state.