A milestone week for Judge bowling
The Father Judge bowling team earned some headlines this week when Mike Mullin rolled the first perfect game of his two-year career and John Donnelly notched his 500th win since becoming the Crusaders' coach in 1994.
The Father Judge bowling team earned some headlines this week when Mike Mullin rolled the first perfect game of his two-year career and John Donnelly notched his 500th win since becoming the Crusaders' coach in 1994.
Mullin, whose previous high game was a 257, finished with a 625 series Tuesday as Judge topped Cardinal Dougherty in a Catholic League match. On Thursday, Mullin rolled a 236-207-164607 series as Judge beat Archbishop Wood, 4-0, for Donnelly's 500th win. The Crusaders are 41-3 this season in match points.
"Mike's only a sophomore, but he's improved so much - he's really come on - since last year when he was on the JV team," Donnelly said.
Mullin's perfect game is the third for the Crusaders since Donnelly became connected with the team. Tim Smith did it seven years ago, and Bob Bowman did it in the 1993-94 season when Donnelly was an assistant coach. The next season the Crusaders won the first of back-to-back league championships.
Mullin admitted he became more nervous as his shot at 300 became more evident.
"I tried not thinking about it," he said. "I just kept quiet."
Asked about his sub-200 final game score against Wood, Mullin said, "I was getting tired at the end."
Pool closed
The Villa Maria Academy swimming team held its first dual meet of the season at the Suburban Swim Club in early December. By the time the team was to hold its next home meet early this month, the club had closed its doors.
"There was a sign on the door," said Hurricanes coach Kathy Hay, "but the club never informed us of what was happening. I understand there were some issues over electric bills. I know Suburban treated us well."
When you call the number listed for the club, a message tells you the phone has been temporarily disconnected.
Villa has had to do some scrambling for home meets since the closing of the club. The team uses other facilities for practices.
The situation hasn't interrupted the team's success, however. Villa, the six-time District 1 Class AA champion, is 4-0 in dual meets. The Hurricanes will use the pool at Westtown School for tomorrow's meet with Gwynedd-Mercy. For Tuesday's meet with neighborhood rival Conestoga, the Hurricanes will swim at Malvern Prep.
Hay attributes much of Villa's success to its four senior captains, Christine Garvey, Jules Rava, Katherine Greskoff and Sara Schubert. Hay said each captain was responsible for providing leadership for each grade, 9-12.
"The situation [with] pools hasn't bothered us," said Garvey, who is headed to Tufts in the fall.
Goal surpassed
After the spring season, Coatesville track coach Carl Smith asked team members to put some goals down on 3-by-5 cards. One of then-junior Omar Thomas' goals was to reach 44 feet, 5 inches in the triple jump.
On Monday night at Ursinus College Thomas flew a meet record 45-11/2 in the Chester County Indoor Championships. He also was a member of the Red Raiders' 4x200-meter relay team, which set a meet record of 1 minute, 33.2 seconds.
"Omar did some real good things for us as a junior," Smith said, "but I think we both agreed he was capable of a lot more. Because of restrictions [at Ursinus], he didn't have his normal length of approach for the triple jump, but he didn't panic. He faced adversity and handled it well."
According to Smith, Thomas' effort is second-best in the state this season and in the top 15 in the country.