JOLIET — The Oregon JH boys and girls bowling teams competed at the 2024 IESA State Finals held at Joliet Town & Country Lanes on April 19-20. Several all-time OJH IESA State records were set or approached including the all-time high girls team score, boys high individual game, second highest individual 10-game girls score, fourth highest girls place finisher, fourth highest boys individual 10-game series score, fifth highest individual place finisher and sixth highest individual 10-game girls score.
The girls team, coming off a record-setting second-place finish behind Sycamore at the sectional the previous weekend, placed seventh in the state by recording the highest 10-game series total in school history, a 5,875 series, 43 pins ahead of Sycamore who finished in eighth. This is the second time OJH has placed seventh and the second highest place ever.
Leading Oregon was 17th place finisher, eighth-grader Carli Bailey with a 1,686 series, the second highest series ever and the 4th highest individual place winner. She was followed closely by seventh-grader Abi Kalnins with a 1,594 series in 27th place, the sixth highest series in history and the seventh highest place winner.
Also bowling all 10 games was eighth-grader Savannah Nagy who finished with 1,448 series and a 48th place finish. In addition, fifth-grader Briannah West bowled eight games - 938 series and eighth-grader Whitley Key bowled two games - 209 series.
The boys team overall had a disappointing premature end to their season, not making the second day of the event with a 15th place finish. However, individually one person did advance to the second day, as eighth-grader Diego Hernandez set a school record with a 278 individual game enroute to recording the fourth highest 10-game series ever, an 1,817 series. His 28th place finish is the fifth highest in history.
Also narrowly missing advancing to day two of the event was seventh-grader Ethan Rowe with a 667 four-game series – 12 pins from advancing. He was followed closely by seventh-grader Layne Newberry with a 598 series and eighth-grader Asher Kramer with a 588 series. The IESA state bowling finals was created in 2011 and is a single class statewide event. In 2024, 162 girls and 166 boys competed at the state finals.
