After two previous top 10 finishes at the IHSA girls state bowling tournament, Natalie Goodman finally got what she was looking for.
The O'Fallon senior earned the championship Saturday afternoon at Cherry Bowl in Rockford with a pin total of 2,867, which was 109 more than runner-up Jodi Gawlik of Schaumburg. Goodman, who bowled a perfect game in the morning session, had placed third as a sophomore in 2008 and finished eighth last year.
"My freshman year, I got up there and didn't bowl so hot, so that motivated me to go back and do well," Goodman said. "Having all that experience really helped me this time."
Goodman entered Saturday 70 pins behind Gawlik, who finished with a pin total of 2,758. After games of 234 and 265, she finished the morning session with a 300 game.
"I was going into the lunch break, so the timing couldn't have been better," Goodman said. "It gave me time to cool down from the excitement of the perfect game. By that point, I knew I wasn't going to bowl a really low score. I was locked in and focused."
Goodman is the second straight bowler from the Metro East to earn the girls state title, following Collinsville's Frannie Steiner in 2010.
"Natalie's idea of a slow start was to bowl 181 in her first game on Friday," O'Fallon coach Gary Spencer said. "Then she became a little more aggressive and started knocking those corner pins out. After that, she was on fire."
Goodman finished the tournament with a series of 682 (218-237-227) in the Saturday afternoon session.
"I had a pretty big lead by that point, so I was confident that I would come out on top," Goodman said.
Look for a feature story on Goodman in the Feb. 23 edition of the St. Clair County Journal.
