Not many students realize that among their peers is a nationally recognized bowler. Senior Ashley Chiaramonte was featured in last month’s JTOWN magazine and named one of the top 50 female bowlers in the United States by the Bowlers Journal.
Regarding the start of her bowling career, Chiaramonte said, “I began at age five and from there it was just competition and competition to get where I am at today.”
Bowling Coach Mr. Brodowski stated that he was proud to be Chiaramonte’s mentor and that “she is one of the best girl bowlers I’ve ever seen.”
Chiaramonte's high score is a 268, which came from her getting a front-nine, strikes for the first nine frames in a game, which is a near perfect game.
Chiaramonte’s bowling career is not without obstacles. She said that competition gets rough and due to her popularity, her performance is expected to be above average which does nothing to aid her nerves. She said, “…knowing that you have to do well for your team and then having to beat personal records becomes stressful.”
She also said, “We bowlers try to get the word out about bowling. Unlike what most people think, bowling is taken very seriously. This is especially relevant in colleges and professional leagues.”
According to her coach, Chiaramonte is a quiet player and is a role model to other students on the girl’s varsity team because of her “calm and focused attitude.”
Peer bowler and friend of Charamonte’s, Jacob Gardaki commented, “[Ashley] is a very nice person and is easy to get along with...she is pretty subtle, but her playing is in no way like that.”
Chiaramonte is confident that this bowling season will be a good one. So far, the varsity team lost only two of twelve matches.
Chiaramonte also led the girls’ varsity bowling team’s win against Manalapan on January 18th with an overall score of 510. Ashley’s prediction of a good season seems to be turning out to be true for the varsity team.