Michaela Palumbo, a freshman on Mineola High School’s girls bowling team, won Nassau County’s individual bowling championship last week following the school’s boys team capturing the team title.
The 15-year-old rolled her way to a 1,236-point total in a six-game series at AMF Garden City Lanes on Feb. 23. Palumbo told Newsday she sought vengeance after the girls team lost in a bowl-off to Bellmore-Merrick in the county’s team championship three days before.
“Saturday was very upsetting,” Palumbo told Newsday. “We thought we had it. But when I saw that we came in second for the second year in a row I thought, ‘I’m going to do this [win an individual title] for my team, and for my coach, and I also wanted to do it for myself.’”
Last year, as an eighth-grader, Palumbo finished second in the individual championship, falling to Great Neck South High School’s Katie Presvelis by just 32 pins. This year, Palumbo said, winning the individual title after the team lost a few days before became even more of a priority, especially for team coach Mark Miller.
“We really wanted to come out on top because [coach] Mr. [Mark] Miller has never been with a team like this before, but now that I won this, it’s kind of redemption,” Palumbo told Newsday.
Miller, who graduated from Mineola in 1976, touted the performance of Palumbo, along with fellow freshman Kelsey Morrison, who finished fourth overall with a score of 1,106.
“To have two freshmen go first and fourth in the county? I’m psyched,” Miller told Newsday. “I’ll tell you something — I’m going to coach the girls team until these two graduate.”
On the boys’ end, Mineola captured the county championship on Feb. 20, scoring a total of 5,983 points over a six-games series at AMF Garden City Lanes. The boys’ championship is the first in the school’s history.
The Mustangs, who edged out Wantagh and Sewanhaka by more than 300 points, were led by junior Phil Macchietto, who bowled a high game of 255 in the fourth of six games. AJ Henriques, the only Mineola senior bowler, rolled a 205 in the second game of a six-game series.
“I have made the state all-star team as an individual every year since seventh grade, so I know what that’s like,” Macchietto told Newsday. “But it feels even better to accomplish this with my teammates.”
