This story was originally published in the first edition of The Lion’s Tale (October 28, 2019).

This year our Oviedo High School varsity bowling teams. both girls and boys, have undergone some changes, but have dominated in their seasons.

With a new coach in their corner, Zachary Waters, the teams have been a force to be reckoned with the past few weeks, winning match after match against the district’s toughest teams, such as Lake Howell, Winter Springs, and Hagerty.

In late September, the girls team won the Kegel Training Center High School Championship Tournament for the third time in a row, putting them first out of seven teams in the state. The girls finished with a score of 2,864.

The boys team performed admirably as well, coming in third out of 15 teams.  Their final score was 3,065.

To the players on the team, this season has been all about striving to continue Oviedo’s history of excellence in the sport.

“We all have big shoes to fill,” said junior Jacqueline Gonzalez. “But we’re all doing our part to make ourselves better and to make our spares and to keep the flow going.”

Top strikers on the boys team include senior Jacob Ramos, junior Bryson Ruffin and junior Brendan Carney.

For the girls team, their top scoring players this year include junior Francesca Olay, junior Annabelle Olay and senior Shauna Rodgers.

On Oct. 24, the teams competed in the final game of their conferences. The boys team finished as conference runner-up with a 14-2 record.

The Girls finished at a perfect 16-0 on the regular season, crowning them as Conference Champions.

With Waters at the helm, the teams said they are hopeful that their success will continue for years to come.

“I’m hoping that they go back to back,” stated junior Brendan Carney. “But I mean if it comes down to it, hopefully one of our guys, me or one of the starters can win individually to still represent our school”

We hope that our girls and boys team can continue the success and bring it home for the Lions.