MARLBOROUGH – Superintendent Ernest F. Houle proudly shares that an Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School student has won multiple medals in regional and international bowling competitions this year.
Sofia Ramirez-Granick, a senior from Westborough, recently returned from Colombia with a silver medal in a Mixed Team Event in that country’s under-18 national tournament, and a bronze medal in Female Doubles.
The medals are the latest in a series of successes for Ramirez-Granick. She won first place in the U.S. Bowling Congress (USBC) Pepsi Youth Championship in Rhode Island, and in the Rhode Island All Events tournament in the Major Girls Division. She also won a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Bowling Confederation competition in Zapopan, Mexico, in May.
Ramirez-Granick followed her brother, David, into the sport at age 10: “I started bowling because my brother did it and I wanted to do everything he did.”
Her skills continued to grow. At 14 her coaches began letting her practice on “sport shot” lane oil patterns, which are much more difficult and the standard in professional and international tournaments.
Ramirez-Granick tries to practice at least twice a week. She works with Fran Varin, a USBC Silver Certified Coach, at Walnut Hill Bowl in Woonsocket, R.I., and Bowlero Cranston in Cranston, R.I.
She credits Varin and her other coaches with her development as a bowler. In Colombia Ramirez-Granick also is helped by Team Quindío Coach David Rivera, who has coached the Colombia National Women’s Team, and Clara Guerrero, a longtime member of the Professional Women’s Bowlers Association and winner of more than 50 medals internationally.
Ramirez-Granick, a Metal Fabrication student, also is an accomplished metal sculptor. She won a gold medal at the state SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Conference in Marlborough in April for her work. In June, she won a silver medal at the National SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta, Georgia, for a Day of the Dead-themed sculpture honoring her Hispanic heritage.
Ramirez-Granick hopes to attend college on a bowling scholarship. She also plans to continue bowling at the junior pro level in Colombia, and qualify for the national team.
“The entire Assabet community is proud of Sofia and all of her achievements,” Superintendent Houle said. “She has so many different talents, and her drive shows her fellow students that hard work and focus can take them anywhere they want to go.”