Q:What was your mindset like going into this past weekend and how did you prepare for the tournament?
A: “It was hard because I have a shoulder injury right now so a lot of practices I had to take it easy and not bowl a lot and try not to aggravate it. Then I get to the tournament and I have to bowl every frame every game so that was hard. And I get in my head a lot. I work with my coach and we try to find ways to get me out of my head. We get songs stuck in my head or he’ll come up there and tell me “Okay slow down and take a breath, just one good shot kid” and then I go up there and do it…You have to stop hating on yourself when you bowl. If you tell yourself you’re not gonna do it then you’re not gonna do it so that’s what I’m working on.”
Q: How does it feel to beat not one but two school records in one weekend?
A: “I was like “wow”. That was really cool for me. This was the first tournament of the year and I’m out here bowling while injured. I can go out there and get high game and then stay fired up enough to bowl well and then beat high five game! To me that’s a big accomplishment.”
Q: What does this mean for the program considering how relatively new the program is to campus?
A: “Just in the bowling NCAA we’re the youngest team ever; we don’t have any seniors, we’ve only been a program for three years and we have the youngest coach that the bowling NCAA has ever seen. So we’re really young and to come out there and shoot big like that gives our school recognition and it gives our program recognition.”
Q: For a sport that is so individual in nature, how do you get motivated for your games?
A: “It seems very individual but actually it all counts as a team game. On Saturday last week, I had a game where I went out and shot a 254 so that helps out the team. If I would have gone out there and shot 100 that would have hurt everyone, not just me. So once one person gets fired up and starts bowling well the whole team rallies around them and we all get fired up. For example, by the end of Saturday we had other teams cheering for me because we get loud and we show our support for everyone.”