It would be impossible to prove, but it would not be outlandish to suggest that Naperville Central High School senior Skye Sanford was one of the happiest bowlers to ever finish 65th in the state tournament.
Over on lanes 15 and 16 at the Cherry Bowl in Cherry Valley near Rockford Saturday afternoon, Lockport Township High School was celebrating its second straight Illinois High School Association state title.
A few alleys to the left, on lanes 11 and 12, stood Sanford, her smile just as big as those on the state champion Porters’ faces.
“It’s so cool — it’s unbelievable,” she said moments after her finish. “I never thought it would happen. It’s so cool!”
Cherry Valley was Cheery Valley in Sanford’s world.
So, why was the 65th bowler in the state feeling so good?
Two reasons.
First, the week before, she became the first bowler in the history of Naperville Central — and Naperville School District 203 — history to qualify for state.
Second, there were 123 bowlers who started the tournament Friday and the list was pared to 71 for Saturday’s second round. She finished 59th on the first day and made the cut.
That made her weekend.
“I just wanted to make it to the second day,” she said. “That was my main goal. I was just so incredibly happy. I wanted to make it to day 2 and have fun.
“And I had a great time.”
Sanford finished with a 12-game total of 2,206 for a 183.5 average, which was 562 pins behind state champ Lisa Burgos of St. Charles East.
Back when Sanford was freshman, her father, Tobey, was the Naperville North’s boys bowling coach. There are several good bowlers in the family, Skye said, but she wasn’t one of them.
In other words, she didn’t come into the Central program all guns-a-blazin’.
Redhawks coach Steven Ondrus who tag-teamed with Brian Dunn to help get boys and girls bowling going as an IHSA sport at the school in 2017-18, said Sanford’s average was a 95 early in her freshman year.
“She came out as a freshman with no experience, no equipment and an early average under a hundred,” Ondrus said. “What she did bring to the team, though, was a great attitude, a willingness to learn and a positive energy.”
As the season wore on, she started to feel more confident in her game. She led the Redhawks at the Metea Valley Regional with an 876 in six games for a 146 average.
“When I saw her do that, I said, ‘OK, we have something here,'” Ondrus said. “We have three more years to really build on something positive.”
During Sanford’s sophomore season, the postseason was wiped out due to the pandemic and in her junior year, she advanced to sectional play but missed state.
Then came Feb. 11.
At the Hinsdale Central Sectional at Suburbanite Bowling in Westmont, she put up a six-game round of 1,114, which was a school record.
But she wasn’t sure if it was good enough to be one of the top five individuals to advance.
“We were the first lane to finish,” Ondrus said. “We were doing a lot of calculating to figure out who is where. What lane is this girl on? People were texting.
“We just had to wait until they called her name. Then we were all jumping up and down.”
She qualified in the fourth spot for the right to head to Cherry Valley.
“It was like the longest wait ever,” she said of finding out she qualified. “I was so stoked when it got it.”
Sanford said there has some college interest from Benedictine University and North Central College but doesn’t have her future bowling plans settled just yet.
Ondrus said he enjoyed his four years with her at Central, and he hopes she continues in the sport.
“Skye’s teammates love her, she’s just a great human being,” he said. “She also has great parents that are supportive of her. I’m hoping that she’ll choose to bowl at the next level. I think she’d really regret passing on an opportunity to do so.
“She’s the best bowler in school history. It’s a short history but Skye is all over the books.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
