June 6, 2007
Vanderbilt Bowling — 2007 National Champions
Four Vanderbilt bowlers and Coach John Williamson today were accorded major honors when the National Ten Pin Coaches Association announced its All-America teams.
Josie Earnest, who led a well-balanced Commodore squad to the national championship, was named a second-team All-American and sophomore Tara Kane earned third-team honors in voting by NTCA membership. Earnest averaged 197 over 70 games while Kane averaged 193 in 53 games, 23 of those being over 200.
Sophomores Michelle Peloquin and Karen Grygiel made the honorable mention honor squad. Grygiel won the Mississippi Valley Classic and had three Top 5 finishes while Peloqiun had five Top 10 finishes in averaging 192 over 70 games.
Williamson was voted the Division I National Coach of the Year after taking the Commodores to a nation’s best 74-14 record along with the University’s first NCAA championship. Additionally the Black and Gold won three other major tournaments, their first in their three-year existence. The Commodores had a winning advantage for the season against every team they faced.
“These honors are nice rewards for hard work well done over a period of time,” Williamson says, “but the key to our success is not the individual but the entire team. That may seem cliché’ but it is very true. At every point in the season, a different player or two led us on the lanes and several on our roster who didn’t compete in the tournaments made valuable contributions elsewhere.”
“Our primary goal was the national championship and we achieved that mark,” Williamson says. “To do that, we needed a very balanced, consistent team with almost interchangeable parts and that doesn’t always translate into individual superlatives. We had several others that could have received these honors as well.”
Vanderbilt will become the first college bowling team in history and just the second of any kind since 1971 to meet the President of the United States when it attends an official White House reception June 18.
Nebraska’s Amanada Burgoyne was voted the Division I “Player of the Year” after averaging 204.4 over 69 games; she was one of five honored on the All-America first team, joined by Tina Peak, and Bryanna Caldwell of Central Missouri State, Becky Ketcham of Fairleigh Dickinson and Vicki Spartford of New Jersey City College. Burgoyne and Caldwell are repeat first-team selections while Caldwell was named the Division II “Player of the Year” and Spartford was the Division III “Player of the Year”.
Nebraska’s redshirt freshman Cassie Leuthold edged Earnest, the MVP at the NCAA Championship, for national “Rookie of the Year” honors.
2007 NTCA ALL American Team
First Team
Vicki Spartford, Jr, New Jersey City University
Amanda Burgoyne, Sr, University of Nebraska
Bryanna Caldwell, Jr, Central Missouri State University
Becky Ketcham, Sr, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Tina Peak, Sr, Central Missouri State University
Second Team
Josie Earnest, Fr, Vanderbilt University
Cassie Leuthold, RFr, University of Nebraska
Erica Perez, Fr, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Christi White, Sr, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Adrienne Miller, Sr, University of Nebraska
Third Team
Lindsay Baker, Jr, University of Nebraska
Marion Singleton, Fr, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Kristy Kerr, Fr, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Tara Kane, So, Vanderbilt University
Lindsay Frusciante, Sr, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Honorable Mention
Michelle Peloquin, So, Vanderbilt University
Kristina Figueiredo, Jr, New Jersey City University
Laura Zanrucha, So, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Whitney Smith, Jr, Alabama A&M University
Alexandra Stein, Fr, St. Francis College
Chrissy Onderdonk, Sr, Sacred Heart University
Lauren Banz, Sr, New Jersey City University
Holly Churchill, Sr, Arkansas State University
Karen Grygiel, So, Vanderbilt University
Michelle Wallace, Fr, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
NTCA Division I Coach of the Year
John Williamson, Vanderbilt University
NTCA Division II Coach of the Year
Ron Holmes, University of Central Missouri
NTCA Division III Coach of the Year
Frank Parisi, New Jersey City University
NTCA Division I Player of the Year
Amanda Burgoyne, University of Nebraska
NTCA Division II Player of the Year
Bryanna Caldwell, Central Missouri State University
NTCA Division III Player of the Year
Vicki Sprattford, New Jersey City University
NTCA Division I Co-Rookie of the Year
Cassie Leuthold, University of Nebraska
NTCA Division II Rookie of the Year
Jamie Mitchell, University of Central Missouri