CARAVAN
BOWLING NEWS
Jan 25th - The Caravan bowling team started out well at Friday's IHSA state finals at St. Clair Bowl in O'Fallon, but struggled in the second half of the day to finished 21st, 13 pins ahead of Chicago Brooks (which finished ahead of MC at last week's sectional, so revenge is sweet!) and three places ahead of fellow Catholic League squad DeLaSalle. Individually, senior Ryan Hernandez went out on a high note, averaging 198.8 for his six games, much better than last year when he competed at state in singles. The future is also bright as junior Mike Stepanovic averaged 196 for six games and junior Jordan Elder averaged 194 for five games. It was a great season ... dare I say the greatest in Caravan bowling history! Every bowler on both teams got to experience max success — JV won the Catholic League championship for the first time, while varsity finished third. But varsity made up for it by advancing to state on their own merit for the first time in program history (the 2003 on the banner in the gym represents a gift trip to state after one of the top two teams in the sectional had to forfeit). So definitely no regrets for anyone on the team and every reason to be proud.
Jan. 18th - For the first time in 10 years, the Caravan bowling team has qualified for the state finals, finishing second at Saturday's Skyway Bowl Sectional. The boys finished the day in style with a 1,040 game, the team's highest in over two years, to finish more than 250 pins ahead of third-place St. Rita for the state qualifying spot. The Caravan nearly caught sectional champ Brooks HS in the final game. It's actually the first time the Caravan bowling team has "earned" a trip to state. In 2003, they finished third in the sectional, but the second-place squad was disqualified by the IHSA for rules violations, enabling MC to go to state. Assistant coach Devon Radford was on that team, and even he said, "this time we earned it!" Ryan Hernandez finished third individually with a six-game score of 1,301 and high game of 255. EJ Camacho also had a high game of 238 in the last game to help clinch the trip downstate.
Jan. 12th - The Caravan bowling teams competed in the Catholic League Championship meet on Saturday, and brought home more hardware. This time it was the JV squad that won the title, taking the championship trophy by defeating Brother Rice in the final 2 games to none while many of the varsity bowlers rooted for their counterparts. Freshman Danny McKay led the way with the top JV score of the tournament. The varsity team also had a good showing, reaching the finals before finishing fourth. Ryan Hernandez was honored before the event as an all-conference bowler, then he proceeded to show it was warranted by finished third overall individually with an average of 199.8 over six games, including a 224 game. Jordan Elder had a high game of 214 for the varsity, which now has its sectional coming up on Saturday at Skyway Bowl on 99th and Torrence.
Jan. 3rd - The Caravan bowling teams competed against Brother Rice on Thursday at Skyway Bowl. Varsity won 11-4 with Ryan Hernandez rolling a 225 game and Christian Whitaker adding a nice 222. The effort clinched a spot in the Catholic League Championship meet next week. The JV didn't fare so well, losing to a tough Brother Rice JV squad 15-0. But the high point for MC was shooting an 881 game, its high for the season. Unfortunately, Brother Rice shot better. In that game, Caravan freshman Jalen Hill had the first 9 strikes on his way to a 266 game, the highest for any MC bowler this season, JV or varsity
Dec. 30th - The Caravan bowling teams had a very good holiday week. First, it was the Brother Rice Tournament on Thursday. Two MC teams competed with the varsity squad finishing fifth, its best finish at the event in at least the last four years. Of the six games rolled, two of the Caravan's game were over 1,000 (1,021 and 1,008), while two others were 976 and 961. It was a very good precursor for the postseason since sectionals are six games and those scores would be great in a sectional. EJ Camacho had the high game of the day with 236.
On Friday, the Caravan faced St. Ignatius in a Catholic League make-up match at Forest Lanes in Lyons since St. Ignatius couldn't bowl the previous week. The varsity won 14-1 to improve its position in the CCL standings, moving to a couple points out of first place in the South Division, and separating itself from fourth place. The top four teams in each division qualify for the CCL Championship. Same format goes for JV and the Caravan won that match 15-0 over St. Ignatius to also move closer to first and put a stranglehold on second place. The varsity rolled another 1,000 game (1,017) with Ryan Hernandez leading the way with a 247 game. Mike Stepanovic had a 223 game. On the JV side, Daniel McKay rolled a 227 game and 397 series to take over the top spot in the South Division JV leaders.
Next up for the Caravan is Brother Rice on Thursday at Skyway Lanes in a key CCL match in the varsity and JV standings.
Dec. 15th - The Caravan bowling teams brought home a pair of victories over Fenwick on Saturday in a North-South crossover Catholic League match. The varsity won 11-4 with Christian Whitaker rolling the high game and series with 215 and 393. The JV team won 15-0 with Daniel McKay rolling a 347 series and 197 game, while Jalen Hill had a 201 game.
Dec. 8th - The Caravan bowling teams both won on Saturday in a Catholic League North-South division crossover meet. The varsity won 12-3 over Gordon Tech with Richard Ybarra rolling a 224 game and Mike Stepanovic leading the way with a 235. The JV team barely edged St. Patrick 8-7 with Daniel McKay rolling a 211 and Malcham Taitt adding a 179.
Dec. 4th - The Caravan bowling teams brought home a pair of victories over St. Rita. The varsity won 9-6 in a hard-fought match in which Jordan Elder led the way with a 225 high game and 419 two-game series. The JV also beat St. Rita 12-3 with Ajani Marsh rolling a 201 high game.
Nov. 29th - On Wednesday, the Caravan bowling teams were perfect in sweeping Leo 15-0 in both varsity and JV matches at Skyway Bowl in Chicago. Christian Whitaker led the varsity with a 265 high game, while Bradley Jackson had the high JV game with 165.
Nov. 21st - On Nov. 20 at Rolling Lanes in Countryside, the Caravan bowling teams took on Marist. The varsity struggled, losing 13-2 with a high game of 193 from EJ Camacho. The JV won its fourth straight match to start the season, 12-3, with Daniel McKay having a high game of 202. Next up for MC is Leo on Nov. 28 at Skyway Lanes.
Nov. 16th - The Caravan bowling teams won again on Thursday at Lawn Lanes in Chicago. The center has always been tough for MC bowlers, but the varsity team was able to fight through tough lane conditions to defeat DeLaSalle 14-1 with Ryan Hernandez having the high game of 225. The JV team also won, defeating DeLaSalle 10-5 with Daniel McKay having the high game of 187. Next up is Marist on Tuesday at Rolling Lanes in Countryside.
Nov. 11th - Saturday, Nov. 10 was a banner day for the Caravan bowling teams. For the first time, both JV and varsity swept their matches, winning 15-0 over Gordon Tech in a North-South Catholic League crossover meet. Corey Gill led the JV with a 190 game while Daniel McKay had 188 to help JV move into first place in the South Division. EJ Camacho led the varsity with a 221 while Mike Stepanovic had a 197.
Nov. 7th - The varsity bowling team struggled against a tough St. Laurence squad in the first match of the season, losing 13-2 at Forest Lanes. One bright spot was junior Christian Whitaker rolling a clean 195 game that included nine straight spares. The team also rolled a clean 206 Baker game. The JV team fared much better, beating St. Laurence by the same 13-2 score. The next match is Saturday at noon at Habetler Bowl against a north division opponent to be determined.