COLLINSVILLE - Madeline Woelfel, a senior for the girls bowling team at Civic Memorial, had a very successful IHSA regional tournament Feb. v5 at Camelot Bowl in Collinsville, finishing in a tie for second place overall with Collinsville's Courtney Baer with an identical six-game score of 1,267 as the Eagles went through as a team to the sectional at Mt. Vernon, finishing fourth to claim the final spot.
Woelfel was fired up over the fact at her finish and the Eagles going on to the sectional, and in a post-tournament interview, talked about how exciting it was for CM to advance.
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"I'm very excited," Woelfel said, of advancing to sectional, "and I was really proud of our team that we could come out and get fourth as a team."
Woelfel felt overall, she bowled well, but had trouble finding a strike zone in the final game, but made the needed adjustments to finish strong.
"I'd say I bowled pretty well," Woelfel said. "I mean I was really trying to stay positive the whole time. Then, in my last game, I couldn't find the strike spot and it just wasn't my best. But I picked it up in the game before, which was good for me."
Woelfel felt the team's excitement over finding out the Eagles qualified for the sectional as a team.
"Oh yeah, it was so exciting," Woelfel said. "Because when coach (Shane Stille) came over and said 'guys, we're going to sectionals,' I couldn't even believe it. And we were all so excited, we were like 'what?'," she said with a smile. "It was awesome.
As the Eagles prepare for the sectional next week at Nu Bowl Lanes in Mt. Vernon, Woelfel knows that the mindset of the club will be upbeat and they'll be ready for the challenges.
"I think we're going to, one, stay positive," Woelfel said, "and two, just really practice and stay focused. If we can do that, I think we can do pretty good next week."
If CM advances to the state tournament of Feb. 19-20 at Cherry Bowl in Rockford, it would be a very big accomplishment for the team, a fact Woelfel is very excited about.
"That would be awesome," Woelfel said. "We'd be so excited. Even more excited than I am today," she said with a big smile and laugh.
