Bearkat Bowling Team Aims For A Great Season
by Cheval John
When the SHSU Bearkat bowling team reached the NCAA Bowling Championship in 2011, they made history by becoming the first-ever inaugural program to attain that feat.
They knew that they had to play even better in their second year in order to make two straight appearances in the NCAA Championships.
The championships only had eight spots and in order to be selected, a team had to be ranked nationally in the top eight.
Though they finished the season with a 79-35 record, they were not selected by the NCAA committee to participate in the tournament because they were ranked at No.9.
Now they are more focused than ever and will begin their third season ranked No.8 with the Tulane Invitational set to begin on Friday.
“It was tough for all of us,” head coach Brad Hagen said. “I’m a firm believer that it’s in the past for a reason and now we move forward.”
The Bearkats returns three letterman in senior Michelle Secours, junior Kim Davidson and junior Neishka Cardona.
They have a combined average of 190.22 total pins.
“It’s kind of a redemption year because our goal is just to go to nationals,” Davidson said.
In addition to her time at SHSU, Cardona representing her native Puerto Rico in international tournaments during the summer.
“She (Neishka Cardona)had a great summer at the international side again. … That’s positive momentum going into this year,” Hagen said.
They’ve also added five new faces to the squad that have in junior transfer Kelsey Smith (Arkansas State), Rebecca Pittser (McKendree University), and three freshman Erin Brown, Anna Groce and Hannah Harrison.
Hagen believes that he has recruited quality players because they understand the goal of the team and knows that they are aiming to make an immediate contribution.
“We been doing a lot of stuff already as a team. … They are bonding more quickly than I was hoping,” Hagen said.
“We had great teams in the past two years, but we are a lot deeper this year.”
The start time for the Tulane Invitational is at 9 a.m and will continue on Saturday.
