The Prairie View A&M women’s bowling team competed in the SWAC championships for the first time in 10 years. The team finished with a 16-8 overall record and 8-4 in the SWAC . They finished second in their division behind Southern and fourth overall in the conference.
Coach Glenn White has been with the team for four years and this is his third year as head coach. White mentioned that the bowling team had been through its fair share of struggles. “When I started working with the team, we hadn’t won a game let alone a match and were consistently in last place,” White said.
The tournament which was held Jan. 25-27 in Jackson, Miss., saw the Panther bowling team defeat Alabama A&M, Southern, and Jackson State which were the other top teams in the conference. “By beating the best teams we could possibly win SWAC in the future,” said White of beating the top teams. “We’re a young squad with only one senior and are expecting big things next year,” White said.
White mentioned that when the Lady Panthers compete in bowling tournaments they are competing against the top teams in the nation. Alabama A&M competed for the national championship two years ago and are ranked 10th nationally this year. “In a short time we are competing on a national level, we’re on track to win a SWAC championship as well as national championship.”
White said he is happy for the team’s success because the players sacrifice a lot. The players must travel to Tomball to practice and White works a regular job along with coaching the team. His goal is to win a national championship. White said, “I know the bowling team is not a known commodity, but the team is competitive and they really battled this weekend.” White’s tradition is to give the game ball to a player for outstanding play. This time he said the game ball goes to the entire team. Sophomore reserve Terrie Mitchell had an average of 135 and bowled a 212 to beat Alabama A&M. Melissa Reeves, a sophomore bowled three 200 plus point games during the roundup with a average of 162.
Freshman Kristina Sadler bowled a 246 on the first day of play. The only senior on the team, Selena Millhouse consistently bowled a 234 game during the tournament. Sophomore Misty Dawson bowled three 200 plus games on the second day of competition. Phebe Jackson, a sophomore, is the team’s leadoff. “She did a good job of getting team started all weekend,” White said.