Jacklyn Burbach tried to avoid being distracted by the scoreboard. But what the monitor over her head at Bowlero Lanes in Belleville on Wednesday afternoon told a story that proved impossible for anyone else to ignore.
Burbach, a senior at North Arlington, had one of the most impressive days of bowling The Observer area has seen in recent memory when she rolled a 718 series in the Vikings 7-0 victory over Irvington.
Prior to Wednesday, no North Arlington girl had ever rolled a 700-series. While the season is only a handful of days old, Burbach’s 718 high set is an astonishing 51 pins greater than any other three-game series by any girls bowler in the state.
“I was kind of shocked,” said Burbach. “But I just was doing my best not to think about it because then I knew that I might break that rhythm and I was really trying not to.
“I felt calmer than I usually do and I just wasn’t freaking out about what was happening. And I think that kind of helped.”
In the preseason, both Burbach and head coach Paul Marcantuono saw a much improved bowler.
One day earlier, in North Arlington’s season opener against Barringer, Burbach smashed her previous personal bests when she bowled a 242 in the third game for a 592 series.
“The whole house was watching (on Wednesday). It was really cool to see she was locked in,” Marcantuono said. “I knew she would be better this year, but this week she had was amazing.”
Marcantuono cited a small adjustment that Burbach, a left-handed bowler, made with where she stood as having a big effect on her performance.
With the adjustment, Burbach finished Tuesday with seven consecutive strikes as part of her 242 in the third game. Burbach then began Wednesday with eight more strikes in a row as part of a 251 game. She followed that up with a 223 in the second game and a 244 in the third.
Burbach now holds the second and fourth highest individual games in program history.
“I just started standing somewhere different and focusing on keeping a consistent release point and learning how the ball would react to that and then just kind of would adjust based on that,” said Burbach. “(Fifteen consecutive strikes) was really crazy because it’s just not something I ever thought I would do, but it just showed me that I’ve come a long way.”
Burbach, who also plays softball and volleyball at North Arlington, didn’t begin bowling competitively until her sophomore year and in her first season rolled a 131.89 average. Last season, as a junior, her average ballooned to 149.85, highlighted by a 233 in the North Jersey, Group 1 quarterfinals.
While Burbach’s contributions were a huge part of the Vikings’ sectional title, her scores fell short of qualifying for the Bergen County and NJSIAA individual tournaments.
Through three matches, nine games in total, Burbach’s average of 201.1 has her in great position to qualify for both.
But if you ask Marcantuono, the number that means most to Burbach isn’t that 201, but rather the 3-0 record North Arlington has after defeating Barringer and Irvington in division play, followed by an eye-opening 5-2 win over Immaculate Heart on Thursday.
“She likes her scores and stuff like that, but ultimately she’s all about the team winning,” Marcantuono said. “She loves setting personal goals for herself, but ultimately her final goal is to win another state championship. That’s what it is. That’s all she cares about.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)