Girls bowling: Marlboro wins Section 9 small-school title in its third year

John Morrissey will admit, he never thought he would lead a bowling team to the state tournament. Of course, as coach of the title-contending Marlboro baseball team, it seemed more likely that horse would get to the derby first.

And, it's not as if the girls bowling program has been around that long at the school.

But the Iron Dukes had a literal banner year in only their third season as a team, winning the Section 9 small-school championship on Monday at Spins Bowl in Poughkeepsie. With that, Marlboro is headed to the state tournament next month.

"We had some girls make the (sectional) composite team last year, which was great," said Morrissey, who is in his first season with the group. "But to have the whole team win a title is absolutely special for us."

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Olivia Cherubini rolled a 1,034 six-game series to lead Marlboro, which totaled 4,484 pins to finish ahead of Highland among the small schools. Their pinfall also was third most overall in the tournament.

Emily Tarsio helped the softball team reach a state final last spring, and the junior now is an anchor for this upstart program. She shot a 955 in the sectional tournament, and Stevie Amato added an 886 and Paige Brooks an 880.

Marlboro advances to the state tournament and will compete for a Division II championship on March 8 at Strike N' Spare Lanes in Syracuse.

Kingston won the Division I section title with 4,970 pins, finishing ahead of Saugerties (4,872). The Division II bracket included only two teams this year and Highland was at a great disadvantage with only three bowlers. Miranda Farbaniec shot a 152 in Game 2 to lead the Huskies, and she competed alongside teammates Jessica Rendon and Aaliya Ghafoor.

Morrissey works alongside Michele Landis, whom he described as a bowling maven whose "wealth of knowledge" has elevated the team. Landis coached the Marlboro boys team in its section tournament Thursday.

The Dukes endured coaching changes after each of their first two seasons and that, Morrissey said, won't continue. Continuity in leadership is one of the first steps required in the development of the program, he said, as is increasing participation.

Marlboro has only five girls on its roster and their hope, of course, is this championship will help drum up interest throughout the local community.

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Girls bowling: Upstart Marlboro captures Section 9 small-school title