The Herrin High School girls bowling team had many accomplishments that took place throughout their season. One of these team members, Mads Labotte, had a thrilling past few weeks, advancing to State for her exceptional bowling. Labotte has been bowling for approximately 7 years, so this amount of experience helped Labotte put in a lot of effort towards going to state. This was an amazing opportunity for Labotte, and a memory that she will never forget.

State was held on February 16th through the 18th in Rockford Illinois, at The Cherry Bowl. Mads Labotte worked very hard to achieve eleventh place, out of hundreds of other female high school bowlers from around the state. With there not being any different class types in this competition, it is very astonishing that Ms. Labotte placed, and an amazing spot to finish in.

Although Labotte competed spectacularly during State, every game did not go as planned, especially the twelfth and final game. Labotte(junior) reflected on her last game stating that it was “the worst of the twelve games played,” but as she watched the website and saw that her name stayed in, her hopes stayed high. Many emotions arose during this experience in Rockford for those three days. Tension and feelings were high during Labotte’s state experience but ultimately she did a terrific job and made her school very proud! 

Overall, the experience was a rollercoaster of emotions. The work and dedication that Mads put in was outstanding. Labotte managed to go above and beyond while barely grazing the top 10 but earning top 15 among many respected bowlers in the state. Labotte’s hard work did not only make her family proud, but also showed tiger spirit and pride while doing exceptionally good for her team and herself as well!  

This was a phenomenal season for Labotte and she hopes to improve upon her season next year, with it being her final year at HHS. Congratulations to Mads Labotte on accomplishing such a hard and honorable task. Hopes are very high for an even better and successful season in the future knowing that no matter what Mads is always improving.