The daughter of Wayland’s greatest bowler has decided to be co-coach this year for the Wayland High School girls’ and boys’ bowling teams.

Sherry Rybiski Miklusicak, whose dad, Frank Rybiski, has rolled more than 25 perfect 300 games in his spectacular career, will coach the Wildcats along with Bill Holbrook, who guided the girls’ team a year ago.

As might be expected, Miklusicak is no stranger to the sport. She grew up just a stone’s throw from Airport Lanes and her father encouraged her to get involved at an early age.

“I worked for Doug Flick at Airport Lanes in high school, college and a little after college,” she recalled. “I stripped lanes, oiled lanes, cleared deck jams, retrieved stuck balls, cleaned, waited on customers… opened and closed while still in high school… I worked there so long… many people thought the owner was my father.”

A 1986 graduate of Wayland High School, she graduated from Aquinas College with a math major and computer science minor and now teaches the subjects at WHS.

Miklusicak said she bowled in the junior leagues until she and husband Ron had her daughter, Carley, 9 years ago.

“I averaged in the 180s (bowling only once a week) with a league high series of 734,” she noted. “My high game is 298 (that was open bowling).

“I coached the Saturday morning kids league for a couple of years before I began my teaching career.”

Bowling is in the blood for the Rybiskis.

She said her father set pins for Haven Tarnutzer before there were machines at Airport Lanes.

“He said they were faster than the machines are and made 10 cents per game,” Miklusicak said. “When Haven sold the bowling alley, he tried to get Frank to buy it. I think Mom and Dad had just gotten married and bought their house and didn’t want to go further in debt.

“I could have been running a bowling alley instead of teaching. I think things worked out for the best.”

Despite the fact bowling is embraced widely as an interscholastic sport by the Michigan High School Athletic Association, its popularity over the years has declined, leaving alleys too often vacant during the summer.

“Yes I worry about bowling and its future,” Miklusicak said. Many establishments have closed… I think people have a hard time committing to such a long season, but I think bowling can make a comeback. There seems to be more high school and college teams than a few years ago.

“Bowling is one of the few sports that you can participate in into your golden/silver years and still be successful (if not better than the younger years) — just look at Frank!”

Most of Frank Rybiski’s perfect 300 games have come after he turned 50.

PHOTO: Sherry Miklusicak, sporting a Wildcat football jersey before homecoming last month. She bleeds green and white and now will co-coach her favorite sport.