Girls Bowling: L-W West's Flaherty Strikes the Tune of a State Champion

Morgan Flaherty was nearly unflappable.

Flaherty, the Lincoln-Way West High School junior, rolled a 741 series and built a 32-pin lead on the first day of competition at the IHSA girls state bowling tournament. Then, on Saturday, she capped a drive to winning the individual championship with one big shot after—wobbling only a wee bit near the finish.

Flaherty tossed a 254 game en route to a 684 series on Saturday morning at Cherry Bowl in Rockford. She added games of 239 and 231 during the afternoon in a 648 series. Her only hiccup came in her final game—a 178.

Still, she finished with a 12-game pinfall total of 2,764 and an average of 230.3. She outdistanced runnerup Nicole Powell of Sandburg by 80 pins. Powell finished with a 223.7 average and pinfall total of 2,684.

Reba Hall of Leyden placed third with her 2,671. She was followed by Julianne Kowalski of Joliet West (2,666) and Ashley Stefanski of Andrew (2,656). Stefanski led the T-Bolts to the team title with a pinfall total of 12,349.

Minooka placed second with 12,327, followed by Waubonsie Valley 12,224, Oswego East 12,172 and Marchesney Park Harlem 12,150.

Flaherty is the first individual IHSA state champion in Lincoln-Way West history. Kaitlyn Neiheisel placed second earlier this school year in diving at the girls state swimming meet.