The Westerville North bowling team has been working hard this season to keep their place in the top 10 of the Central Ohio Bowling Conference.

   While bowling has been around at North for many years, it is one of the lesser known sports that the school has to offer. There are only two teams, a mens team and a womens team, each only consisting of 5 people.

   Senior, Kaitlyn Sturgell is currently on the Lady Warriors team and has been with the team since her freshman year.

   “My brother also bowled when he was in high school, so that’s how I got into it,” said Sturgell.

   Much like any other sport, bowling requires a lot of practicing in order to grow in skills. In order to be fully successful in how one bowls also depends on the quality of the lanes. Before each match they even spend a few minutes testing the lanes.

   “We spend about 15 minutes warming up to see what the lane conditions are like and how our balls will react,” said Sturgell.

   The team practices twice a week and typically have 15 matches with around 3-4 tournaments. The practices ordinarily consist of bowling 5 games, then they transition to trying to hit certain marks on the lane to test their accuracy.

   “We try to hit different marks and it really helps with out accuracy with our spares,” said Sturgell.

   Junior, Alexi Sarakinakis is currently playing on the men’s varsity team and shares similar experiences as Sturgell.

   “The practices really help you improve your accuracy for when you’re playing in games,” said Sarakinakis.

   While the sport is club affiliated, all three of the Westerville high schools endorse the sport and advertise for it within the schools.

   “I heard about the team from the announcements and immediately looked into joining,” said Sarakinakis.

   The team is always on the lookout for new members to help expand the program. The sign ups are typically in early winter and the season lasts for a few months.

   “We are usually low on players and overall it’s a great time,” said Sarakinakis.