STAC BOWLING: OWEGO MIXES YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE FOR 2021 CAMPAIGN (2021-01-18)
BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego is sporting a mixture of youth and experience on its boys and girls bowling teams this season.
First-year coach Zach Tarnowski is learning about his group and the Indians' opponents as the season progresses.
"I don't know much about the team last year as this is my first year coaching," he said. "I don't know much about the other teams in our division but i know we bowl twice against Norwich, Windsor, Chenango Forks and Valley as well as Sus Valley."
Following a handful of practices, he was able to see which bowlers should be at the top of the Owego lineup.
"My anchors this year are going to be Ty Taft as well as Haley Stephens," he said.
Taft, a junior, is one of five returnees on a boys team which suffered one major graduation loss, STAC Metro all-star Qwinten Adams (194 average). Stephens, a freshman, is one of three girls coming back. Taft carried a 177 average last season and Stephens posted a team-high 142.
"My other top bowlers are Marshall Burrell, Cole Dalton and Nate Travis," Tarnowski said. "For the girls team you have the Reigle sisters."
Returnees Burrell and Travis are seniors while Dalton is a sophomore, however, Burrell bowled just two games last season, averaging 160. Dalton was No. 2 on the team with a 186 and was followed closely by Travis with a 183. Another returnee, freshman William Waldron, averaged 170.
Senior Chris Cornell has joined the varsity while 8th-graders Joey Mikels and Grayden Stanton, and 7th-grader Connor Kotski could split time on the varsity and JV squads. Rounding out the boys roster and currently rolling at the JV level are sophomore Peyton Miller, freshman Branden Ward, 8th-grader Chase Romeo and 7th-grader Payden Phillips.
While Owego has 13 boys, the girls roster is considerably smaller, numbering six.
Victoria Reigle, a sophomore, and Elizabeth Reigle, an 8th-grader, held 103 and 100 averages, respectively, last season.
The other half of the roster — Mckenzie Donnelly, Aubrey Garrison and Ryllieann Morrow — are 7th-graders.
The boys team went 25-35 last season and finished third in the STAC Metro division while the girls were 5-55.
The Owego boys opened the season last week with a 5-0 sweep of Chenango Forks. Burrell set the pace with a 578 and Dalton rolled a 577. Travis had a 552 and Taft a 530.
The girls lost, 4-1. Stephens scored a 434 series and Elizabeth Reigle had a 179 game to lead the team.
The Indians' schedule will include the possibility of both head-to-head and virtual matches as they follow coronavirus protocols.
"In regards to COVID we are taking every precaution that we can to ensure we have a season," Tarnowski said. "Some of the precautions that we are taking are having disinfecting stations as well as dividers between lanes. We are also limiting food for them to eat during practice and matches as well as allowing only two spectators per bowler at home matches, no spectators at away matches. We are also taking temperatures before participation in matches."
Decisions on whether to bowl opponents head to head or virtually will be made as match dates come up.
Next up is a virtual match against Windsor at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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IN PHOTO: Cole Dalton posted the highest average last season for Owego's 2021 roster.
