This last weekend, the women’s bowling team had their first competition of the season. Senior Abigail Clark placed the highest on the team ending 23rd out of 143 bowlers. The team has been preparing so much throughout the preseason, and one of the biggest parts of this preparation is team bonding.

“We have been preparing by practicing, going to workouts and most importantly, getting to know each other as a team so we can best support each other on and off the lanes,” Clark said.

Senior Sophia Osborn believes this preparation makes it easier for her and her teammates to be there for each other.

“We’ve also been trying to get to know the new members because, during tournaments, it’s easier to pick someone up when you have a good relationship with them,” Osborn said.

The head coach Marty Resner has been helping these bowlers prepare for the upcoming season by helping them with their fundamentals and creating a competitive atmosphere for the athletes.

“We have been analyzing film to work on techniques to improve our game, working on drills to improve various skills and rolling some games for score to start to get into a competitive spirit,” Resner said.

Clark and Osborn, both being seniors, have had several previous seasons to build off of and learn from. A couple years of experience bowling on lanes with different oil patterns has helped prepare Osborn for her final season.

“Each tournament has a different oil pattern on the lane, and it’s helpful if you understand the length of the pattern as well as if it’s really thick in specific areas. It’s going to affect how your ball will react once you throw it,” Osborn said.

Due to these differing oil patterns, there is a transition bowlers have to make when they go from high school to college.

“A lot of players don’t know that the change from high school to college is really difficult because of the types of oil patterns we bowl on at this level,” Osborn said. “It can easily take your average down 25 to 30 pins, but as you continuously bowl on patterns, it becomes easier to read over time.”

Clark said she has team bonding and goal setting skills from her previous seasons of bowling at Augustana.

“We have really taken ideas on team bonding and cheering from previous years, and for the upperclassmen, we are trying to continue bettering our goals from this year and previous years,” Clark said.

Coach Resner loves how coachable the bowling team is and thinks their work ethic will help them improve so they can thrive later on during the season.

“I really like that I can explain a drill, a change in technique, and then they will absorb that information and do their best to put it into practice,” Resner said. “It is noticeable, and that effort is going to help us improve greatly throughout the year as we hope to peak in performance around Feb/March as we build towards the conference championship.”

This is Coach Resner’s first year back coaching at Augustana after some time away. He was responsible for starting the women’s bowling program for the school and now he gets the opportunity to be the head coach of it.

“It has been great to return to Augie as the bowling coach,” Resner said. “The program will always hold a special place in my heart, not only because I had the honor of beginning the program, but more so because of the people and teams I had the honor to begin it with.”

The team hopes to win many competitions this season and set records, but at the end of the day, the experience they have bowling with one another is unforgettable.

“This team is a family to me because of the love and appreciation all of us have for each other, and I don’t think I would have gotten these experiences if I had gone somewhere else for school,” Osborn said.

The bowling team continues their season with their next competition on Nov. 13 and 14. With all the hard work they’ve put into their preparation, the team and the athletic community are excited to see all that they accomplish this year.