This was a memorable year, a year of progress. Cathedral High School bowling turned in solid boys and girls seasons in 2023-2024, with the boys turning in yet another competitive season and the girls turning in a remarkable successful season. “The girls probably had their best season ever in the history of Cathedral bowling,” Irish boys and girls bowling coach Mark Noe said. Key to that season: Freshman Grace Zuerner, who had a standout season to lead to Irish girls bowling to third-place finishes in the Indianapolis East Conference and sectional tournaments. “We came really close to getting in the round of regional,” Noe said of the girls. Zuerner rolled the state’s second-highest game of the season – 276 – and also turned in the second-highest series of the season, and was one of the top bowlers in the sectional. “Her potential is out of this world,” Noe said. “She’s a great kid, a great bowler.” The Irish girls bowling team in 2023-2024: *Zuerner, senior Rachel Rodecap, senior Jules Hollis, senior Monica DeSantes, senior Lucy Batt and sophomore Lily Valentine. “We had a good jayvee showing, but the women’s team was really an improved team,” Noe said. “We’re all proud of the girls. The girls are low-key. They’re good, they’re very gracious and they're very humble if they make errors. But there are some good scores.” Irish boys bowling was a young team in 2023-2024 that finished fifth out of 10 teams in the conference, with junior Alex Jones turning in a strong postseason and advancing to the semi-state round. “They’re improved,” Noe said of the boys. “They got a lot better. We had a decent showing. We’re real young and we’re in a very tough league, one of the best leagues in the state.” Jones finished 10th at the New Castle Regional with a 162-215-151—526 to advance to the semistate. Jones advanced to the regional with a 609 at the Indy East Conference sectional. “You have to be good to get there,” Noe said of Jones making the semi-state round. “Alex did a great job of getting there. We had a lot of fun. We’re very proud.” The Irish boys bowling team in 2023-2024: Jones, sophomore Nolan Lumsdon, sophomore Declann Sweeney, junior Cole Lanoihan, sophomore Christian Heuer and sophomore Seth Warren. “We had fun,” he said. “We had a good time. We had a lot of improvement. We didn’t have much experience and we learned from that. They bowl really well at sectional, so I was happy with those guys. This year, they changed the oil patterns. Every time we bowled, they had a different pattern. You had to come out and go on the patterns. “It was difficult, but it was good. It was challenging.” Noe said the key for both programs moving forward is continued work and focus – not only during the high-school season in the winter, but the rest of the year, too. “You have to bowl in the offseason if you’re going to be good,” Noe said. “I always try to make sure they get out there in the off season and bowl.” He added, “The kids were great. It was a fun season, good season. We bowled pretty well near the end, but no matter what sport it is, you have put your time in the offseason. If you don’t do that, you're not going get any better. A lot of the boys are committed to more bowling, but it was an enjoyable time. “We had no seniors at all on the boys team, so we could be loaded hypothetically next year. We have to put the time in, so we’ll see.”