On Thursday, December 14, the Livingston High School bowling team defeated Millbum. Bowling coach Griff Hughes also won his 300th career match that day.
The team started off with captain Rishabh Sinha’s 192 bowling score. Captain Gabe Shulman scored a 215, and Victoria Cheng’s 175 helped the team to a 868-792 pin victory.
During the second game, the Lancers struggled with spares, but managed a 780-737 win behind Aidan Reyes’ 180 bowl. The Lancers unfortunately did not win game three, and were defeated 819-763, but won the overall match 5 -2. Parker Shulman rolled a 147 in the loss.
On the junior varsity lanes, the Lancers were defeated by Millbum. Lancer Abhiman Chandin scored a 71, 88, and 106, while Douglas Coppola bowled a 100,92, and 113.
Sungi Shariff’s 155 was the high score of the game for the Lancers, and Prakhar Samaiya’s scores of 125, 154, and 117 earned him the high series of 396.
The team lost by two pins in the third game, 593-591. The junior varsity bowling team’s current record is two wins, and two losses.
Coach Hughes, now in his 25th year coaching the team, has had many highlights during his time at Livingston High School.
In 1998, he and three otherparents proposed starting the bowling team to LHS athletic director, Rudy Valentine. During the 1999-2000 season, Hughes took the Lancers to the State Sectional Championship and won. He was also named the Star Ledger New Jersey Boys’ Bowling Coach of the Year.
Since that time, his teams have won seven Essex County Championships, which along with Nutley, are the most won by all Essex County schools.
His teams have also won the SEC Colonial Division seven times, and the NJSIAA State Sectional Championship five times, along with three runner-up awards in the state finals. In 2007, Hughes was selected as the North Section Coach of the Year from six states, and in 2013, was inducted into the New Jersey State Coaches NJSIAA Hall of Fame. Coach Hughes also serves as the SEC Bowling Coordinator for three divisions.
His record is 300 match wins, and 94 losses.
