OP_041317

52 | April 13, 2017 | The orland park prairie sports
opprairie.com
Girls Bowling
Jablonski recounts IHSA state bowling first
Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor
‘I can’t do this’ is not a
phrase Sophia Jablonski has
ever used in her life.
Jablonski was born a triplet
with quadriplegic infantile
cerebral palsy. She was born
premature, weighing just 1
pound and 5 ounces at birth.
She spent the first four months
of her life in a hospital.
Despite being confined
to a motorized wheelchair,
Jablonski has proven that
hard work and determination
will always pay off.
Sixteen years later, the
Sandburg High School junior’s
most recent accomplishment
came with a medal
from Illinois High School
Association and title of state
champion. Jablonski competed
in the girls bowling
Wheelchair Division competition
in February, taking
home the top prize. IHSA
added a Wheelchair Division
five years ago, but this is
the first time there have been
competitors.
“I’ve been into bowling
since elementary school,
probably fifth grade,” Jablonski
said. “It’s one of the
sports that I could do. There’s
a lot that I’ve been doing other
than that, but it’s the one
sport that I really get into.”
Jablonski has continually
strived to be active and try
new things. She has danced
ballet, plays baseball in the
Miracle League of Joliet
and has participated in multiple
school plays. Her busy
schedule has prohibited her
from participating in the
school’s bowling team. But
with her time at Sandburg
quickly ending, she knew she
had to make room in her busy
schedule for the sport.
“I decided to join the bowling
team this year, because
I’ve been in it before … and
I wanted to do it for Sandburg,”
Jablonski said in reference
to her previous bowling
experience. “I just love the
school, and I wanted to be a
part of the team and help the
team out.”
Jablonski knew she would
have to tryout, like everyone
else, for a spot on the team.
Once she made the team, the
next big hurdle was obtaining
transportation between
Sandburg and the locations,
for both practice and competitions.
After the logistics of
transportation were finalized,
her next big concern was how
she would be treated on the
team.
“There was one point
where I was a little worried
who was going to be on the
team, and how they were
going to act toward me,”
Jablonski said. “My whole
team has been very accommodating
to me this season,
and I really appreciate that.”
Once on the team Jablonski
made fast friends with
freshman Zoe Schultz, who
helped Jablonski move her
ramp into position during the
season.
“I think that’s really nice of
her to help me, and not just
worry about her own game
but also take time to help
me,” Jablonski said.
Jablonski said she was
concerned that with all the
help Schultz was giving her
that it would negatively affect
Schultz’s own game.
Schultz reassured her friend
that helping was fun for her.
“She knows how to pick
herself up,” Schultz said of
Jablonski’s daily presence on
the team. “She always knows
how to put a smile on your
face, and she’s a cheerleader
for the team.
“It’s always about other
people before herself; it’s
what makes her such an
amazing teammate. People
respect her for it.”
Jablonski’s constant concern
for others was evident
even during the state championship.
Jablonski and teammate
Emily Schrader were
the only two bowlers from
Sandburg to make it to the
finals. Schrader was required
to bowl six games each day
of the finals, while Jablonski
only had four games on the
Saturday of the competition.
Jablonski and her mother,
Naheda, were able to drive to
Rockford on the Friday of the
competition to offer support
for Schrader. Every bowler
knows that the game is as
much about skill as it is about
the bowler’s mental state,
and Jablonski said she could
tell her teammate was struggling
with the mental side of
the game that Friday.
“Sometimes, I feel that
if you’re not doing so good
you’ve got to get your mind
off of what’s going on,” said
Jablonski, who uses music as
a way to calm herself in those
situations.
Jablonski recited the
team’s chants for Schrader,
and it was just enough to get
her teammate refocused and
back on track. Jablonski said
once she started cheering for
Schrader, she hit strike after
strike.
Jablonski finished her own
part of the competition by
knocking down 354 pins —
enough to earn her the state
championship title.
“She took it upon herself
to lead the way,” Sandburg
bowling coach Joe Geiger
said of what Jablonski’s win
means for other girls.
Geiger has been the bowling
coach at Sandburg for
14 years, and this is the first
instance in which he has had
to coach someone in a wheelchair.
He said that despite
Jablonski’s condition, he did
not coach her differently than
the other girls, aside from
adjusting for a ramp. He said
he, too, realized how much
of a good example Jablonski
is setting for future competitors.
Jablonski said she did not
realize when she started the
season what the outcome
would be, but it has become a
major teaching moment.
“I hope that people learn
that they could do whatever
they put their mind to, and
they should get involved at
their school,” Jablonski said.
Badminton
Eagles doubles teams regroup to best LW Central
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Sandburg senior Iman
Elagha and junior Gwyneth
Hu have only played together
as No. 1 doubles partners a
handful of times this season.
So, when they dropped
the first set against Lincoln-
Way Central, they needed to
regroup during the break between
Sets 1 and 2.
“We knew their weak
spots, but they started to
get into our heads with their
serves, because they were so
good,” Elagha said. “We got
frustrated and stopped communicating
a little bit. Just
not playing together regularly,
we needed to reestablish
each other’s trust and communication
and rotation of
how we move.”
Elagha and Hu won the
next two sets, as Sandburg
dominated in three-set
games and doubles matches
to beat Central 10-5 April 4
in Orland Park.
As the season hits the second
half, the focus turns to
preparing for the postseason
in late April.
The Eagles were 5-2 in
games that went three sets.
Four of those wins came after
they dropped the first set.
Elagha and Hu won at No. 1
doubles (13-21, 21-18, 21-
14), and MaryKate Zoubek
and Kayla Busen won at No.
5 doubles (16-21, 21-13, 21-
18). Hu won at No. 2 singles
(18-21, 21-16, 21-16), and
Elagha won a thriller at No.
3 singles (20-22, 22-20, 28-
26) that included coming
back from being down 20-16
in Set 3.
The excitement of the
comeback for Sandburg
was equaled by the disappointment
for Central. The
Knights won the first set
eight times but went 4-4 in
those matches.
“We have a lot of juniors,
and we’re doing what juniors
do: losing close matches,
or winning the first one
and then losing the next
two,” Central coach Ryan
Pohlmann said. “We need to
get better at the end of those
matches, and finishing those
games where either we can
put it away in two or challenge
in that third set.”
The Eagles started strong
by winning four of the five
doubles matches. It’s the
first time this season they’ve
won more than three doubles
matches, according to Sandburg
coach Kim Huelsman.
Marissa Arrigoni and Kaylynn
Murray won at No. 4
doubles in three sets, while
Meghan Mattson and Jessica
Jobb won at No. 2 doubles in
straight sets.
“This part of the season is
normally when things start
to click more for the girls,
where they start to see the
court better, execute their
strategies, and break down
their opponents in terms of
what their opponents are
doing and how to shift the
momentum of the game,”
Huelsman said. “Today was
a sure sign of seeing that, especially
winning four of five
doubles.”
Jalyn Baumgartner and
Jess Nilsen picked up Central’s
lone doubles win
21-19, 21-12 at No. 3.
Baumgartner won her No. 1
singles match 22-20, 21-11
against Mia Ko, who was on
the doubles team Baumgartner
and Nilsen beat.
“I noticed, in doubles,
[Ko] had a really good
Please see Badminton, 49