Whether it's competing for family bragging rights or helping their school return to the state tournament, sisters Katie and Sarah Crafton are making a name for themselves on the Collinsville girls bowling team.
Katie, a senior, and Sarah, a junior, have emerged as leaders for the Kahoks.
"We get a lot of what I call ‘legacy families' and Katie and Sarah are fortunate to have their legacies together on the team at the same time," said Collinsville coach Sean Hay. "They've grown up competing against each other and with each other and the family push helps them excel even when the competition isn't pushing them."
Two years ago, the Kahoks won the state championship, with Frannie Steiner also claiming the individual state title. Following in the footsteps of that team wasn't easy for last year's squad.
"There was so much pressure because we felt we had to be just like them," Sarah said. "We lost six seniors after the state final, so that's pretty much your whole starting lineup, so we were a very young team last year."
"Pretty much the whole season, we had to figure out that we weren't that team," Katie said. "This year, we're our own team and we know we can get better."
Katie began bowling as a seventh-grader.
"Joe Legendre, our assistant coach has helped me through the whole process," Katie said. "I started bowling here (at Camelot Bowl) in a Saturday league and I've stayed involved with it ever since.
"I feel like I've grown as a bowler and I can see other people maturing as well. There's a chemistry with our girls and we have such a good attitude. It makes bowling for this team an amazing experience."
Sarah followed a similar path.
"Joe has been with us since the beginning all the way up through high school and Sean Hay is also a great coach - he knows what he's talking about," Sarah said. "They're a good mixture - coach Legendre is calm and makes you smile, and if you have a problem on the lanes, coach Hay can tell you what to do."
The girls are anxious to prove that Collinsville can be a postseason power once again.
"We want to go back to state," Katie said. "We've seen what we have to go up against and I think we're ready for it."
"We've had a couple losses, but we've won two tournaments at (Harrisburg and Springfield), got second in our own tournament and got fifth in a 44-team tournament (in Plainfield)," Sarah said. "That shows we can do well against tough competition."
A pair of seniors, Charlie Barger and Ben Bauer, are leading the way for the Kahok boys.
"Ben has been a solid player for four years and he has probably down a little in average at the start of this season, but he's put it together lately," Hay said. "Charlie has been steady all year long and he has one of the best releases on the team. The two of them have been anchoring the bottom of our lineup and they've done a great job."
"We have a lot of positive energy," Barger said. "We got off to a slow start, but we're putting it all together at the right moments."
Barger was 4 or 5 when he was introduced to the sport through bumper bowling.
"I've actually been around it longer than that - when I was a couple months old, I was being passed around the bowling alley," Barger said, grinning. "Everybody in my family bowled, so when I was old enough, my dad got me into it.
"When it was time for me to bowl for the school team, it was kind of a natural for me. Ben and (senior) Chris Mitchell and myself have always been in leagues together. We know each others' games."
Bauer was 6 when he started bowling.
"My sister, my brother and my dad all bowl, so it's kind of a family thing for us, too," Bauer said. "In middle school, I thought about going out for track, but the only thing I really wanted to do was bowling."
Bauer bowled an 802 series at the Elite Invitational, Dec. 17 in Herrin.
"Our record doesn't really reflect how we've been bowling," Bauer said. "Our attitudes have gotten a lot better and we're all saying this is the most fun we've ever had. At Herrin, we were having so much fun I didn't feel there was any pressure on me."
As seniors, Bauer and Barger are expected to be leaders, but it's not a new role for them.
"Last year our two seniors were good leaders, but Charlie and I had the two highest averages, so we had pretty much already established the leadership in that way," Bauer said. "This year, we're all kind of leading in different ways. (Senior) Joe Legendre does a great job of motivating us."
Collinsville's slow start this season only made the Kahoks more determined to finish on a strong note.
"Winning the tournament at Herrin really boosted everybody's confidence," Barger said. "I think I can speak for everybody on the team when I say we want to go all the way, and we feel we can do it."
