Girls Bowler of the Year Alex Bergin of Alton

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Published 9:47 am CDT, Sunday, July 22, 2018

Photo:

Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

Alton High’s Alex Bergin captured the individual championship at the Alton Regional as a junior and is the 2018 Telegraph Girls Bowler of the Year.

ALTON — Alton High bowler Alex Bergin served notice in 2018.

And how.

Bergin, who was a junior, played consistently through the season and then grabbed the individual championship at the Alton Regional Tournament. And while the Redbirds’ - and Bergin’s - dreams of advancing to the IHSA Girls State Bowling Tournament didn’t come true, Alton coach Dave Meyer said there’s hope, thanks to the likes of Bergin, the 2018 Telegraph Girls Bowler of the Year.

“The girls didn’t finish the season as they had hoped,” Alton coach Dave Meyer said. “I’m very proud of the girls for advancing as a team to the sectional.”

But a week earlier, Bergin was sitting on top of the Riverbend bowling world when she won the individual championship at Alton Regional at Bowl Haven.

“My goal was to help our team get to the sectional,” Bergin said. “We had lost five seniors from last year’s team and it was something we really wanted to do.

“But I didn’t think at all about winning the (individual) championship. Coach (Meyer) doesn’t tell us the standings during a meet. He doesn’t want it to distract us. So, after it was over, we wanted to know if we had made it to the sectional as a team. (Meyer) was calculating something, then he told me I had won and they all cheered. It was very exciting.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win it.”

Bergin came from behind to beat Highland’s Molly Marshall for the top spot. She overtook Marshall in the final game and finished with a score of 1246 pins, to Marshall’s 1216.

Highland was first in the 13-team race with 5456, followed by Vandalia 5292, Triad 4963 and Alton 4894. The top four teams advance to the sectional.

The Redbirds grabbed the fourth and final sectional-qualifying spot ahead of Edwardsville, which was bowling in the lane adjacent to AHS. The Tigers had 4620 pins.

At the sectional in Mount Vernon, Cassie Bowman led the way for Alton with a 1,169 series for six games and Bergin followed with a 1,150 series.

During the school year, Bergin held down two restaurant jobs in addition to going to school and bowling.

“I tell people if I’m not at school, I’m bowling” she said, “and if I’m not bowling, I’m working.”

It was an eventful season for Bergin. “At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t find my groove,” she said. “But (Meyer) would pull me aside and give me pep talks. He said he believed in me and that I could do it. That was so much help.

“This was my first year getting to bowl all the time every tournament,” Bergin said. “We had five seniors last year, so I would bowl a couple games here and there, but not an entire meet.“

Meyer is in his second year as the AHS coach after replacing longtime coach Jeff Wosczczynski.

“Both coaches helped me a lot,” said Bergin, who admitted she started bowling “kind of late.”

“It was the summer before sixth grade,” she said. “My dad made me go to the Alton High Bowling Camp. I was all mad because it was going to make me waste my whole summer.

“It was really just like two hours a day for three days,” she said. “I liked it and stayed with it it, but I didn’t get serious about it until seventh or eighth grade.”

She’s plenty serious now.

Girls Bowler of the Year Alex Bergin of Alton

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Published 9:47 am CDT, Sunday, July 22, 2018

Photo:

Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

Alton High’s Alex Bergin captured the individual championship at the Alton Regional as a junior and is the 2018 Telegraph Girls Bowler of the Year.

ALTON — Alton High bowler Alex Bergin served notice in 2018.

And how.

Bergin, who was a junior, played consistently through the season and then grabbed the individual championship at the Alton Regional Tournament. And while the Redbirds’ - and Bergin’s - dreams of advancing to the IHSA Girls State Bowling Tournament didn’t come true, Alton coach Dave Meyer said there’s hope, thanks to the likes of Bergin, the 2018 Telegraph Girls Bowler of the Year.

“The girls didn’t finish the season as they had hoped,” Alton coach Dave Meyer said. “I’m very proud of the girls for advancing as a team to the sectional.”

But a week earlier, Bergin was sitting on top of the Riverbend bowling world when she won the individual championship at Alton Regional at Bowl Haven.

“My goal was to help our team get to the sectional,” Bergin said. “We had lost five seniors from last year’s team and it was something we really wanted to do.

“But I didn’t think at all about winning the (individual) championship. Coach (Meyer) doesn’t tell us the standings during a meet. He doesn’t want it to distract us. So, after it was over, we wanted to know if we had made it to the sectional as a team. (Meyer) was calculating something, then he told me I had won and they all cheered. It was very exciting.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win it.”

Bergin came from behind to beat Highland’s Molly Marshall for the top spot. She overtook Marshall in the final game and finished with a score of 1246 pins, to Marshall’s 1216.

Highland was first in the 13-team race with 5456, followed by Vandalia 5292, Triad 4963 and Alton 4894. The top four teams advance to the sectional.

The Redbirds grabbed the fourth and final sectional-qualifying spot ahead of Edwardsville, which was bowling in the lane adjacent to AHS. The Tigers had 4620 pins.

At the sectional in Mount Vernon, Cassie Bowman led the way for Alton with a 1,169 series for six games and Bergin followed with a 1,150 series.

During the school year, Bergin held down two restaurant jobs in addition to going to school and bowling.

“I tell people if I’m not at school, I’m bowling” she said, “and if I’m not bowling, I’m working.”

It was an eventful season for Bergin. “At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t find my groove,” she said. “But (Meyer) would pull me aside and give me pep talks. He said he believed in me and that I could do it. That was so much help.

“This was my first year getting to bowl all the time every tournament,” Bergin said. “We had five seniors last year, so I would bowl a couple games here and there, but not an entire meet.“

Meyer is in his second year as the AHS coach after replacing longtime coach Jeff Wosczczynski.

“Both coaches helped me a lot,” said Bergin, who admitted she started bowling “kind of late.”

“It was the summer before sixth grade,” she said. “My dad made me go to the Alton High Bowling Camp. I was all mad because it was going to make me waste my whole summer.

“It was really just like two hours a day for three days,” she said. “I liked it and stayed with it it, but I didn’t get serious about it until seventh or eighth grade.”

She’s plenty serious now.