Chaney’s Miller directs district

The high school bowling season — the last three of which have been under the OHSAA’s jurisdiction — starts Monday.

The program which had its roots at the club level begins its ninth year overall.

Fran Miller enters her eighth season as Chaney’s girls coach, but she also embarks on her fourth season as the Northeastern Ohio district director.

She’s also the rules interpreter for the Northeastern district.

She’s grateful for a rule that went into effect last season, addressing one of the biggest problems that high school bowling has had to deal with: foreign substances.

Since the rule went into effect, Miller believes the wrinkles have been ironed out.

“Now we have a uniform set of rules that everybody has to follow,” she said. “That has made it much easier. There are no shades of gray. Everything is black and white.”

Specifically, the problem stems from rosin bags and Easy Slide. These items have always been banned by the U.S. Bowling Congress for use on shoes and the OHSAA has reinforced the rule to its satisfaction.

“They emit powder, which settles on the floor and gets on the bowling surface,” Miller explained. “If kids get too much Easy Slide on their shoes, they could slip and fall. If there’s too much rosin, it could stick and someone could still get injured. It’s the risk of injury. The rule was written to make the game safer for the kids.”

Now that additional clarification in the rule has eliminated rosin and Easy Slide from competition, Miller is relieved.

“It’s much easier now that the rule has been in effect for a year. It’s been clarified and everyone knows how to follow it. That’s the biggest hurdle we’ve had to overcome in the past year.”

Miller said 95 percent of last season’s coaches are expected to return for 2008-09.

“We even picked up a new school — Howland — which has joined as a club team. Whether they’re club or varsity, they’re still eligible to bowl the postseason.”

Miller said her district is the largest in the state.

“Because of that, we send, proportionally, the most number of teams to the state tournament.”

She noted that the Lake County section from the Cleveland area has more than doubled in size, from 8 to 16 boys schools and four to 14 girls schools.

“It is still a growing sport,” Miller said.

Highlights

Rob Sanfrey had the top set of 815 in Window World/Wed. Nite Men at Boardman.

Rinaldo Caimano had 11 strikes in a row for a career-high 298 in Knights of the Round Table at Boardman on Nov. 24. Caimano’s 723 set was only his second 700. At the time, Caimano’s average was 180.

Teri Haefke’s 759 was tops among men and women in George’s Music Shop at Wedgewood on Nov. 17. Haefke’s 267-(696)-922 was also high in Wedgewood Ladies Trio.

Timothy Kennedy’s 708 paced McKinley Juniors & Majors.