One can hear the timeless phrase “practice makes perfect” repeated throughout the years. For one of Hoover’s students, it proves true.
Junior Justin Barth bowled a perfect score of a 300 against Perry Dec. 9.
This was the first home game of the season. A perfect score consists of 12 strikes in a row, a total of 120 pins. Barth is only the second player from Hoover to bowl a 300; the first person was graduate Jon Boyajian. Graduate Robbie Lorentz, who threw a record score of 299, scored the next closest game.
This perfect game didn’t just come from a few years of practicing, as Barth dedicated himself to the sport at a young age.
“I have been bowling since preschool,” Barth said. “It’s something I have always done so I decided to try out for the team.”
Barth first became acquainted with bowling through his family members, who are bowlers themselves. According to Barth, his uncle has thrown quite a few perfect games. The score of 300 has always been the goal for Barth, but he was not anticipating one this soon.
“I really didn’t expect to get one this year, I was just trying to get good scores. I got one before my dad did, so that’s pretty cool,” Barth said.
Jim Heighway, Hoover bowling coach of nine years, was pleased with this accomplishment and expressed the rarity of a perfect score.
“It was spectacular; it was the second one for Hoover and the fifth one in the county,” Heighway said.
As many sports have a skill necessary for the game, Barth is known for having patience, a key characteristic that is important for bowlers.
“If you overthrow it, the ball won’t work the way you want it to, so patience is a big thing with bowling,” Heighway said.
Not only is Barth known for his skills on the team, but also for his personality as a team member.
Junior Evan Russo, a varsity bowler, has been friends with Barth since middle school.
“He brings a lot of enthusiasm. He’s always happy and gets the team fired up,” Russo said.
According to Russo it was expected of Barth to get a 300 this season by the way he has been bowling at practice.
“Everyone thought he would get it at some point. He was bowling a lot of strikes during practice so he was bound to get a 300,” Russo said.
Reaching the perfect score isn’t the peak however, there is still more that Barth can accomplish.
“Well hopefully he will have a good year and keep making his averages better and better and keep making more and more stairs,” Heighway said.
The team this year is young, as there are only three seniors on the varsity team. Despite this, they are holding strong so far this season with a 5-2 record.
“We have a really young team, probably the youngest team I have ever had. They are listening and learning rapidly,” Heighway said.
Senior Cameron Wright enjoys being a senior on the team, but also thinks that there is extra work as a role model for the underclassmen.
“There’s more responsibility knowing all the lower classmen look up to you, but at the same time its more fun being able to help out everyone,” Wright said.
The team spends time together for food after some of their games, which helps to bring the team closer. Wright thinks this is a good idea for the team to come together.
“As a team we go out to eat a lot at Cici’s pizza and we have some parties.We’re a really close team, both boys and girls,” Wright said.
As the season continued, the next match was against Carrollton at Park Centre Lanes Jan. 19 followed by Glenoak Jan. 27. There are high hopes for the team to make it through districts and sectionals to be a part of the state competition.
“I do think we will be successful, because our five starters all have 200 or better averages, our backups have high averages, and everyone on the team works well together,” Wright said.