player profile

About me? Hmm I would say I am a very dedicated, driven, hardworking lady that loves the game of bowling. I’ve been on Team USA and Junior Team USA from 2003-2007 and had many wonderful opportunities to travel the world. I bowled for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where we were the 2004 and 2005 NCAA National Champions. Go Big Red!!!! Bowling truly has been amazing to me, and I have met such wonderful people including my husband Erik. Erik and I live in Minnesota and we have a very energetic 10-year-old name PJ that keeps us very busy with activities which includes of course bowling, golf, baseball, ninja warrior and one of my favorites Pokémon cards 🙂

Who / What Got You Started in Bowling?

My dad got me started in bowling as a little girl. He bowled in many leagues during the week and I always wanted to go with him. Just the sound of balls hitting pins intrigued me. I always bugged him to stay after and bowl. Sometimes he would let me but of course depended on how late it was as most times it was a school night. As I got more competitive and older I would practice everyday after school. My dad would get off work and hurry over to our local bowling center before leagues would start just to give me the opportunity to get a few games in. I would generally have a tournament every weekend and wanted to make sure I was prepared. My parents were always very supportive and made sure I had everything I needed.

What Do You Love About the Sport?

I love bowling because it gave me the opportunity to travel the world, meet wonderful people (including my husband Erik), and gave me the chance to attend and bowl for one of the top bowling colleges in the nation.

Favorite Bowling Memory

One of my favorite bowling memories is making Junior Team USA for the first time. There were many years that I came so close! In 2000 I led qualifying, semi finals and then going into match play I just had a bad day and ended up finishing 8th and just missing the team. During that time there wasn’t a selection committee and only took 6 girls. In 2001 I finished 8th again! Finally in 2002 was my year. Something inside of me had a little extra determination and I dug deep the last day. I was focused on not looking at the scores and really tried to make the best shots I could and focused on me. At the end my dad came to me and said you did it!! Wearing the red, white and blue is something truly special and that night I did not want to take that USA shirt off 🙂

Who is Your Favorite Bowler?

My favorite bowler is Kim Terrell-Kearney. As a little girl I used to bowl as many ladies tour pro ams as I could and she was always there. The first time I met her was in Bloomington, MN at the US Open and she was the sweetest person you could ever meet. I was truly in awe of her as you would always see her on tv and having her actually talk to me was sooo cool! She also remembered so many people and even their names. I don’t know how she does it! Kim always pushed me to be the best bowler I could be and to this day I am blessed to say she is one of my best friends and she still is my idol!

Awards & Achievements

2020 Minnesota State USBC Hall of Fame

2020 University of Nebraska Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame

2019 Minnesota Junior Bowlers Tour Hall of Fame

2007 University of Nebraska Lincoln Hero Leadership Award

2007 NTCA Division I Player of the Year (Nebraska)

2005 NCAA Bowling Championship Most Outstanding Player

2005, 2006 and 2007 NTCA first-team All-American (Nebraska)

2004 WIBC Alberta E Crowe Star of Tomorrow

2001 David Dahms Sportsmanship Award

Bowling Accomplishments

5 – 300 games (3 on sport)

3 – 800 series

Years on Team USA (4): 2004-2007

Years on Junior Team USA (4): 2003-2006

– One gold medal (team) at 2005 American Zone Championships

– Silver medal at 2004 World Tenpin Team Cup

– Two gold medals (mixed doubles, national all-events), one silver medal (team) and two bronze medals (singles, doubles) at 2005 Tournament of the Americas

– Four gold medals (doubles, all-events, team, national all-events) and one silver medal (singles) at 2004 Tournament of the Americas

– Four gold medals (doubles, team, all-events, national all-events) and one silver medal (singles) at 2003 Tournament of the Americas

Other Accomplishments/Awards/Notes

Member of 2004 and 2005 NCAA Bowling Championship winner (Nebraska)

SPONSORS

900 Global

Turbo Grips

3G Shoes

SOCIAL LINKS

FAVORITE COOLWICK PRODUCTs

My favorite Coolwick product is definitely the hoodies and joggers. I love sporting the hoodies around Minnesota as you know Minnesota is cold most of the time lol 🙂

Also the joggers is great for when I practice. Keeps me warm but loose enough to be able to get a good practice in.