DETROIT, Mich. – Angelique Dalesandro became Vanderbilt bowling’s 10th all-time member of Junior Team USA when the prestigious squad was announced at the conclusion of the annual Junior Gold Championship.
Dalesandro, a rising sophomore from Rolling Meadows, Illinois, finished sixth in a Junior Gold field of 439.
“Making the Junior Team USA has been a long-time goal of mine,” Dalesandro said. “But, I didn’t necessarily think it was going to happen this week. I just kept making cuts and it began to look real.”
In last year’s Junior Gold, regarded as the premier junior tournament in the nation, Dalesandro survived only one early cut. She says her freshman year in Vanderbilt’s practice center was important.
“That year of hard work at Vanderbilt made a big difference,” Dalesandro said. “At this year’s Junior Golds I was more mature – more patient – and I didn’t get flustered when things weren’t going right. I stayed calm and figured things out. I attribute that to college bowling.”
The Junior Gold, sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress, is a grueling, week-long championship over a variety of oil patterns and bowling centers. It is designed to be the ultimate test of junior bowling skills.
Dalesandro, who made significant contributions on Vanderbilt’s national runner-up team last April, joins a star-studded list of Commodores that have made Junior Team USA to include: Josie Earnest (five-time member), Brittni Hamilton (three times), Jessica Earnest (three times), Samantha Hesley, Natalie Goodman (two times), Robyn Renslow and Amanda Fry.
Current Vanderbilt bowlers on Junior Team USA include Adel Wahner and incoming freshman Mabel Cummins.
