Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury, right in blue, talks about the success of the Harlem High School bowling teams on Monday, June 27, 2022, after declaring it “Harlem Boys and Girls Bowling
National Championship Week in Loves Park. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — First, Harlem High School’s boys and girls bowling teams earned a pair of national titles.

Now, they have their own week.

Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury on Monday issued a proclamation declaring it “Harlem Boys and Girls Bowling National Championship Week” across the city.

“They’ve got a great bowling program and they’ve had it for a long time,” Jury said before the start of the City Council meeting where the declaration was made. “As a former Huskie, I’m proud of them.”

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Jury joked that recognizing Harlem teams is an annual event because of their regular success at the state and national level. The Harlem girls have won four out of the last five national titles, with one additional year canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the boys took home their first national title this year.

The City Council congratulates them yearly, but Jury said he couldn’t recall the city ever proclaiming an entire week for any athletic team before.

Proclamations are a normal part of city business, but usually weeklong honors have gone to charities and nonprofits for work they’re conducting.

“We’ve had (teams) come in and we’ve given them plaques and trophies and congratulate them, but I think this is the first proclamation,” he said. “This is rare but it’s awesome.”

The Harlem teams competed with hundreds of other bowlers June 18-20 at the U.S. High School Bowling Foundation national bowling tournaments in Louisville, Kentucky. Both teams had to mount major comebacks to earn the title.

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The girls team was in sixth place at the tournament’s halfway point before mounting a comeback that included three record-setting performances, Harlem girls head coach Jim Heathscott said after receiving the proclamation.

They set the record for the Baker single-game high with 268, the six-game Baker high series with 1,296 and the 12-game Baker high series with 2,504.

The boys team was even further back, standing at 10th out of the qualifying round, boys head coach Nick Whitmire said.

“To be able to come back from where they were for both teams is an accomplishment all itself,” Heathscott said. “Honestly, I’m still in awe of all of them right now.”

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Harlem High School bowlers leave Loves Park City Council chambers on Monday, June 27, 2022, after a proclamation was made in their honor for their national championship success. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Whitmire admitted to a little superstition at the national tournament. When the boys team was far behind in the standings, “I went and changed my shirt, changed my pants, and things changed — believe what you want to believe,” he said to laughs from family members in attendance at the City Council meeting.

The team responded to adversity by “executing shots, one after one,” Whitmire said. “Congratulations to them, thank you for having us, and we’ll see you next year.”


This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.

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