Pin queens

Coronado girls make history by snagging first-ever state title

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Unlike Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day," it wasn't the same story as last year for the Coronado High School girls bowling team as the Cougars rolled to their first-ever state championship title, defeating Centennial, 5-2 (2,204-2,003), on Feb. 2 at The Orleans Bowling Center.

After losing to Bonanza in last year's championship, the victory was especially gratifying for Coronado, which gave head coach Bob McKee his first girls title.

McKee, coach of both the Cougars boys and girls teams since the school opened its doors five years ago, won two state crowns in 2003 and 2004 with Coronado's boys teams.

Leading the charge for the Cougars and putting her name in the record book was sophomore Alyssa Madrid, who bowled a 277 in the second game of the championship match, the second-highest total in Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association girls regular season and playoff history. Madrid rolled 10 strikes during the historic game.

Besides having the high game, Madrid also recorded the highest state final series (672), the highest series of the postseason (699) and had the highest pin total in a game of all bowlers -- boys and girls -- on championship day.

Madrid said she was proud to help her team win its first girls state championship.

"It feels pretty good," Madrid said. "We were nervous the first couple of days (of the tournament), but we were trying not to be cocky or anything. We got a little nervous in the end, so we just went out and did it."

Winning it all was no small feat for Coronado (88-10 in the regular season), which finished second in its Sunrise Region Southeast Division behind Green Valley (92-6).

Led by the hot game of left-hander Madrid, the Cougars breezed through the bracket to the finals, beating Desert Pines (72-26) by a score of 7-0 in the regional semifinals on Jan. 30, Northeast Division top-seed Chaparral (91-7) by a score of 7-0 in the semifinals on Jan. 31, and division rival Silverado (64-34) by that same 7-0 score in the Sunrise Region championship on Feb. 1.

In the championship match against Sunset Region champion Centennial (72-12), Coronado won the first game, 774-657, as junior Maddie Pellegrino set the tone for the day with a team-high 226 game for the Cougars, with Madrid rolling a 200 in the opener and teammates Ashley Olriksen and Kelly White finishing with 181 and 161 games, respectively.

In the second and decisive game of the match, Madrid sealed the deal against the Bulldogs with her 277 game, with White (192), Pellegrino (190) and Olriksen (125) also following up with strong efforts. Coronado won the game by 106 pins to clinch the title.

Centennial, led by Nicole Barnes, who bowled back-to-back 183 games, won the third game of the match, in which mostly alternates from both teams competed after the ultimate outcome was already determined.

Coronado also notched the team high series (2,025) of all girls teams in the state tournament, as well as the team high game of the state finals (784) in Game 2 versus Centennial.

Junior Pellegrino, who like several of her Cougars teammates was sporting one navy blue and one red sock -- the Coronado school colors -- said she was ecstatic with the big win.

"It was a lot of hard work and commitment," Pellegrino said. "We worked so hard to get here and we practiced at least three times a week or more. It was really hard, but we're so happy to get here. We just have a great group of girls and we're so dedicated. It's a great feeling."

Teammate White agreed.

"It feels great. It was my first year, so it was awesome," White said. "I think we accomplished everything that we said we would in the beginning of the season."

One teammate, Olriksen, was so wrapped up in the emotion of the moment that she had trouble putting into words how it felt to be a state champion.

"It feels really good, really good," Olriksen said with tears welling up in her eyes. "We worked so hard to get where we are."

Besides helping her team make some history, Madrid rolled the second-highest score in NIAA girls history behind Brandy Moran (Green Valley, 2003) and Carly Wickman (Durango, 2001), who each rolled a 279, and recorded the third-highest individual series ever (699) earlier in the tournament before tying the mark for the fifth-highest individual series score (672) in a championship match.

She actually flirted with a 700-series and went all the way to the final frame in pursuit of it before falling short on her first ball in the 10th frame.

Helping Madrid, Pellegrino, White, Olriksen and McKee make the season a memorable one were teammates Chandra Sibilia and Nikki Butts and assistant coach Walter Olriksen.