Lady Huskies have spirit to spare on Hillcrest bowling team
By Kim Riddle Smith
18 days ago
Hillcrest teammates Becky Pederson
With just four girls bowling teams in the league, Hillcrest's third place ranking might not be a big deal to some, but it's just fine with senior Brittni Findlay, who has bowled with the team for three years.
"We're not at the bottom!" she said.
With limited participation in the club sport, Hillcrest shares facilities and coaching with Riverton High school. The first place ranking in the league belongs to Taylorsville/Murray, second goes to Hunter/Cypress and coming in fourth is Olympus/Skyline.
The Hillcrest girls agree that what they most enjoy are the friendship and competition with students from other schools. Some bowlers, like Findlay and Becky Pederson, were already familiar with competition through parents who participate in bowling leagues. Tasha Witte, who also plays soccer and tennis at Hillcrest, is relatively new to the sport and signed up at the encouragement of her friends. Austin Todd rounds out the 2009-2010 Hillcrest team.
School spirit is apparent on the faces of Pederson and Witte, who show up decorated with green Husky paw prints and Hillcrest "H" painted on their faces.
Scoring is based on the results of six-player teams that bowl on four lanes at each meet. Points are awarded both individually and by team over a 10-meet season that runs from November through early February. Management of Allstar Lanes in Sandy donates practice time and lanes for the team's home meets.
Cassi Gonzales has coached the Hillcrest team for the past six years, after beginning with Riverton a year earlier. A third generation bowler, Gonzales looks forward to joining her father, Rory, who coaches bowling in the boys' league, in a season-end celebration at their home. They encourage every participant regardless of standing on the score sheets.
"We just want the high school students to come and have fun." Gonzales said. "There are plenty of trophies and congratulations for everyone in this league."
