T.F. South girls bowling team headed to state

Now that the T.F. South girls bowling team has made the state finals, Rebels coach Bob Quayle doesn't want the team to settle for just that accomplishment.

"I was joking around with them and told them, 'I hope you're not doing anything next weekend'," Quayle said. "I told them let's go do something at state. And we have the capability of doing it, too. We really do."

The Rebels qualified for the state finals with a second-place team finish at the Bremen Sectional at Oak Forest Bowl, and the team has that capability to compete with any team at Friday and Saturday's state final at The Cherry Bowl in Rockford.

"We already came this far," T.F. South junior Amber Montejano said, "We're going to keep going and push it and try to win."

Montejano finished in ninth place at the Bremen Sectional and will be a deciding factor in the Rebels' chances at this weekend's state finals. Junior Kayla Garcia is also confident T.F. South can compete with any team in Rockford.

"We're definitely going to try harder," Garcia said. "Because now that we're going down to state, I believe we can do whatever we put our mind up to."

This year is the first time the T.F. South girls bowling team has qualified for state since 2007. Senior Charity Bickom is excited at the chance to bowl at state and believes the Rebel's strong fifth game at last Saturday's sectional is an indication of what the team can accomplish under pressure.

"I'm pretty excited," Bickom said. "I think we have an amazing chance just from anything else, our fifth game shows that when we want something, we go after it."

Shannon Pollard is the anchor and as a senior, Pollard has been a big part of the Rebels' road to the state final for the past four years. Pollard sees the trip to Rockford as a measuring stick for the younger T.F. South bowlers.

"Our four-year dream team, we finally did it," Pollard said. "Our main goal this year was making it to state. But even more an experience for the younger kids. Just an experience for the younger kids growing up and seeing just what they have to do next year."