Cascade High School girls bowling coach Ron Hicks describes senior Jessie Brambach as a quiet, consistent leader for the Bruins.
Hicks has coached Brambach since she was a 5-year-old knocking down pins as a member of a youth bowling league at Evergreen Lanes in Everett.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hicks said of watching Brambach mature for more than a decade. “I’ve been fortunate in that respect. I’ve seen a lot of kids I coach come up and go through high school.”
Brambach’s impact on the team stems mainly from her talent in the lanes, where she’s developed into Cascade’s top bowler and one of the best rollers in the 10-team Wesco girls bowling league despite sitting out her junior season.
“She has a ton of potential,” Hicks said. “If she can really put it together, she could be a real competitor at state again this year. Having missed last year hurt her game a little bit, but she’s really starting to turn it around here toward the end of the season.”
Two years ago, the Bruins finished fifth at state with Brambach rolling he second-highest series on the team. She totaled 845 pins over the five-game series.
The Herald spoke with Brambach recently about bowling, the challenges of coming back after taking time off and her love for photography:
How old were you when you started bowling and how did you get into the sport?
“I started bowling when I was like 5 years old. It’s just something that kind of runs in my family. … All I really remember is just everyone in my family bowling and then I started bowling.”
You grew up bowling in the youth leagues in Everett. Are a lot of the girls you see in the high school competitions, at least from the Everett schools, girls that you grew up bowling with?
“Some of them, yeah.”
Are any of them good friends?
“Yes. … (Cascade freshman) Elizabeth Olney. She started bowling when she was 3, so we kind of just grew up on the lanes together. Kind of like our little bowling family.”
Coach Hicks mentioned he’s been coaching you for quite a while. Not a lot of people get to have the same coach for that long. What’s that experience been like?
“I really like it because he knows how I bowl, he knows how to teach me to do better.”
You took last season off. How exciting was it to come back for your senior season?
“I was really excited because it’s my last year and I really want me and my team to go to districts and state.”
After taking a year off, what were the biggest challenges in coming back?
“Basically me speeding. I don’t know what it is, but I walk really fast when I’m going up to the lane. … It makes me swing my ball the wrong way and it doesn’t go the way I need it to go.”
How have you been able to fix that this season?
“Basically, just when I get up there I breathe and I just let it out and try and relax my body. “
What are your interests outside of bowling?
“I really like photography because I really like to show people what I can see through a camera.”
Have you had the opportunity to take photography classes in school?
“Yeah, I’ve taken Photography 1 and 2 at Cascade. (I’ve learned) what different angles you can get and how you can represent someone or an object in a different way.”
What are your plans after high school?
“I got accepted into (Everett Community College), so I’m gonna try and go there.”
Is photography something you’d like to pursue?
“I definitely want to study photography.”
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