South Brunswick Girls Bowling Rolling Out Another Great Year

Under the guidance of Coach Tara Burniston, the South Brunswick High School girls bowling team has become a very successful program. Based on the first week of the season, that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon.

South Brunswick is not only off to a 3-0 start, it won all three matches by scores of 4-0.

"We haven't lost a game yet, so I'm really impressed by the progress," Coach Burniston said.

South Brunswick opened the season with a 4-0 win over Woodbridge. It added 4-0 wins against Old Bridge and East Brunswick.

South Brunswick is using a core of returnees from a team that finished last season with a record of 10-2-2. South Brunswick was second in the Greater Middlesex Conference and third in the state sectionals.

Justine Bleacher (senior), Pratyusha Chamarti (junior), Brianne Font (sophomore) and Maxine Deines are the returning bowlers. Bleacher and Deines were part of South Brunswick's state champion team in 2009-10.

"We won the whole thing two years ago," Coach Burniston noted. "Justine and Maxine are the two that got to experience that. The other girls are trying to gain the experience of going after that."

Bleacher had a 596 series in the opener against Woodbridge. She followed that with a 521 series against East Brunswick. Bleacher bowled games of 194 and 183 against Old Bridge. Deines had a 599 series against Woodbridge and a 529 against East Brunswick. Deines also had a 236 game against Old Bridge.

Chamarti had a 501 series against Woodbridge and a 516 against East Brunswick. Chamarti also had a 162 game against Old Bridge.

Brianna Font had a 444 series against Woodbridge and a 521 against East Brunswick. Font also had games of 171 and 155 against Old Bridge.

In addition to the returning bowlers, South Brunswick has also added a lot of talented newcomers.

"This year we had six freshmen that came out and they are doing well," Coach Burniston said. "We're watching everyone get experience. We're bowling better than I expected."

Amy Caruso and Alanna Zetchus are freshmen that have cracked the starting lineup. Lucy Deines, Connie Thanapuasawan and Lucy Deines are other freshmen that have already seen varsity action.

Caruso had a 600 series against Woodbridge. Zetchus had a 518 series against Old Bridge.

Other bowlers on the team are Brooke Deines and Adrianna Anghelone.

In addition to the 3-0 start, the South Brunswick girls also managed to place 9th out of 34 teams in the Bob James Memorial Classic, hosted by Bishop Ahr. A 233 game and 588 series by Bleacher highlighted the action for South Brunswick.

"We've had a lot of successiful teams," noted Burniston, who is in her 10th year as a coach. "We're off to another good start. I'm excited by how the girls have been bowling. Hopefully, we'll continue to improve."