Girard’s Cupan area’s lone individual state qualifier

March 1, 2013 at 12:06a.m.

Girard

Girard’s Casie Cupan is the area’s lone representative as an individual and her school’s first female to advance to the state bowling tournament when action commences at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl this morning.

“We never had a girl qualify to state in the history of Girard bowling,” said coach Todd Reinhart. “She’s the first.”

However, her brother, Clay, became the first Girard student to qualify for state several years ago.

“The siblings are the only ones to go to state for Girard for bowling,” said Reinhart, Girard‘s second-year coach.

Casie had the seventh-best score at Crest Lanes last Saturday when she rolled 598 in the district tournament. The non-qualifying Indians finished ninth.

“That’s not bad out of 110 bowlers,” said Reinhart, who noted that Cupan’s score this weekend will be in competition with all bowlers — team and individual.

“This weekend, everybody is competing as an individual,” Reinhart said of Saturday’s first three individual games before team competition kicks in.

“Coming from a bowling family, she does her thing,” Reinhart said of Cupan. “She’s a natural,” he said of the senior who is averaging 170.

Clipping off the tail end of Cupan’s total last week were open frames in the 10th frame of both her first and third games.

“Had she gotten a mark, it would have been an additional 20 points,” Reinhart said, “putting her around 620.”