East River’s girls bowling team captured the first FHSAA team championship in the 15-year history of the school on Thursday night.
The Falcons, with only one senior in their lineup, defeated Space Coast 3-1 with scores of 144-193, 181-169, 223-192 and 204-202 in the best-of-five championship match.
There wasn’t a dry eye among East River’s six girls as they hugged each other and were applauded by jubilant parents, coaches and fans at Orlando’s Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center — which was home base for a team that won every match it played this season while also earning Metro Conference and district titles.
“This means the world to me,” said Falcons senior Emily Rusnak as she wiped her eyes. “I love my team. I was here for four years. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come.”
Leesburg made it a Central Florida sweep by defeating Circle Christian for the boys championship.
Circle Christian eighth grader Pancho Johnson was the boys individual runner-up.
East River’s girls were the third seed coming out of Tuesday’s qualifying rounds but came through with a 5-0 performance in head-to-head Baker system matches on Wednesday and Thursday.
“It takes a special group to win it and fortunately that’s what we had,” said Falcons coach Tom Tagye, who coached boys basketball at the east Orange County school before taking over the bowling program. “The best thing about this team is how close they are. No drama. They were always positive and picked each other up.”
Rusnak’s teammates were freshman standout Larielle Tharps, sophomores Camdyn Nielsen and Jada Vidal, ninth grader Emmylou Molina and junior Isis Reyes.
Leesburg also went 5-0 to capture its second title in three seasons as area boys teams swept the top three spots. The Yellow Jackets won the 2021 tournament before Apopka claimed the championship last season.
Circle Christian defeated third-place Hagerty to come out of the consolation bracket and then jumped in front of Leesburg by winning Game 1 209-181 and Game 2 201-172. But the Yellow Jackets won the final three sets 199-170, 213-201 and 257-161.Johnson went 4-2 in individual matches, losing only to state champion Jaylen Brown of Dr. Joaquin Garcia, a new Lake Worth high school that opened in August.
To get to Brown, Johnson had to get past junior teammate Rohde Barber. Johnson won their match 2-0 with a pair of narrow wins (208-207, 259-248) in the best-of-three series.
“I was hoping to be the first eighth grader to win state, but [second place] felt really good,” Johnson said. “And it was really fun facing Rohde.”
Said Barber: “I was going to be happy either way. I’m still happy finishing third in the state.”
Modern-day cowboy Rohde Barber has no time to spare as busy bowler
Edgewater’s John Pearson was one of the final four bowlers, losing only to Johnson and Barber in a 2-1 elimination match.
Timber Creek junior Madison Bailey was the area’s top finisher at sixth in girls individual play. She carded an 834 four-game qualifying score and went 2-2 in bracket play.
In boys team play, Hagerty finished top five after falling to Circle Christian. DeLand reached Round 4.
Winter Park girls, who lost only once in regular-season play (East River), finished ninth as the second-best Orlando area team.
“I’m not disappointed at all,” Wildcats coach Cindy Allison said. “They did amazing with all the new bowlers.”
She said her only experienced bowlers were senior Makayla Angel, who rolled a perfect 300 in Tuesday’s qualifying round, and junior Emma Bastian.
Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
