The Dunkirk Marauders won the NYSPHSAA Division II girls bowling championship on Sunday at Strike ’N Spare Lanes in Syracuse. Submitted photo

SYRACUSE — As the Dunkirk girls bowling team arrives home after the long ride home from Syracuse, the Marauders will see former state championship teams honored proudly at the city lines.

After Sunday’s performance, their names will go up along with them all as champions.

Dunkirk won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II girls bowling championship Sunday at Strike ‘N Spare Lanes in Syracuse.

The Marauders started the day off strong bowling a 988 morning series, but wound up in second place behind the eventual runners-up Newark from Section V. After the morning session, Dunkirk was in second place by 136 pins.

“They had Newark right where they wanted them, in the lead but within their grasp,” Dunkirk coach Donna Kubera said. “My ladies seem to bowl better in the tournaments when they are coming from behind.”

In the afternoon, Dunkirk opened with a 961, and closed the gap to 63 pins, but was still behind Newark. Then in Game 5, the Marauders came out on fire and bowled a 1,016 series to take the lead by 86 pins. Dunkirk finished the afternoon with a 1,008 series to win by 140 pins.

Dunkirk’s linescore was 988-840-858-2,686 in the morning session and 961-1,016-1,008-2,985 in the afternoon session.

Rachel Glowniak led Dunkirk to the title with a morning series of 246-161-181-582 and an afternoon series of 204-238-200-642. She tallied 1,231 overall pins and had the second highest series of the tournament.

Makayla Pasierb contributed a 191-159-162-512 morning series and a 246-222-200-668 afternoon series. She had 1,180 total pins and finished fifth overall. She also tied for the second highest game of the tournament.

Mariah Glowniak (175-182-182-539 morning, 182-189-224-595 afternoon) had 1,134 total pins and finished eighth overall while Olivia Corbett (205-172-178-555 morning, 155-179-209-543 afternoon) had 1,098 total pins and finished 13th overall. Hannah Ellman (171-166-154-491 morning, 174-188-175-537 afternoon) became the fifth Dunkirk bowler to tally over 1,000 pins with 1,028 total. She finished 19th overall, and also received the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award.

The state championship puts a bow on an incredible season for the Dunkirk girls. This season, the Marauders won the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 championship with a record of 39-1; won the Festival of Light tournament out of 22 teams; finished second in the Section VI Invitational tournament out of 22 teams; and won the Section VI Class C and Small School division at sectionals, finishing second overall out of 44 teams, only to Large School winner Orchard Park. The Marauders are also NYS Scholar Athletes with a team GPA of 94.73.