The Prospect Girls’ Bowling team ended their season with a strong 11th place finish at the IHSA State Finals in Rockford at “The Cherry Bowl”. Head Coach Ashley Mahanna was very proud of the way the season closed. 

“The experience at state was a great accomplishment and learning experience,” Mahanna said. “There was quite a bit of adversity that the team overcame in the weeks leading up to state.  Taking this into consideration, the fact that we finished 11th in the state overall was an amazing way to end the season.”

Junior bowler Katie Ruszczak had shoulder surgery last July and was not at full strength at the beginning of the season. Despite this, she still won the conference individually for the third consecutive season.

Fighting through adversity, the Knights ended up finishing 1st in the Conference, beating Hersey by half a point overall for the season.

Senior captain Emily Robinson will be one of the two seniors on the Prospect bowling team graduating in May. Mahanna was very pleased with Robinson’s performances and leadership  she showed this season.

“Emily Robinson stood out as both a leader and player this year,” Mahanna said. “Since the end of last season, her goal was to get her team to State and she accomplished just that.”

With only two graduating seniors this year, Mahanna plans to take this season as a learning experience and an opportunity for more growth for next season.

“We have a lot of athletes who have experienced what it takes to get to the state finals and compete at that level. Now it is just a matter of taking that experience, learning from it, and improving upon it,” Mahanna said.