April 7, 2011
The Bowling Writers Association of America has selected Vanderbilt’s Brittni Hamilton as the 2010 United States Amateur Female Bowler of the Year.
The award caps off a tremendous year of accomplishment for the junior from Webster, N.Y. Hamilton earned first-team All-America honors competing for Vanderbilt’s varsity team after compiling the second-highest average in the NCAA.
She won the 2010 Junior Gold championship in the summer, the nation’s most competitive amateur tournament, and shortly after earned a silver medal at the World Youth Championships in Helsinki.
“I am extremely honored to be receiving this award,” Hamilton said. “It was something that I was not at all expecting. This would not have been possible without the help and support of my teammates and coaches as I would not have had any of this success without them.”
“We are pleased that the bowling writers recognized Brittni,” said Vanderbilt Coach John Williamson. “This is not simply a collegiate award or a junior award, this entails all amateur bowling. She earned this through her success and by the example she has set of hard work, dedication to excellence and selflessness. When she is bowling for us, she is all about the team’s success.”
Brian Ziesig of Levittown, N.Y. was honored as the organization’s male amateur of the year.
Hamilton’s honor continues a recent string of major awards for Commodore bowlers. Josie Earnest, now an assistant coach with the program, had twice been named the NCAA Bowler of the Year. This is the first national amateur award to a varsity Commodore bowler and possibly the first of its kind to any Vanderbilt student-athlete.
Hamilton and her Vanderbilt teammates will travel to Detroit for next week’s NCAA. She leads her fourth-ranked team in average at 207 pins per game.
Vanderbilt will publicly recognize Hamilton’s award on Saturday, April 9, by having her throw out the first pitch when the No. 1 rated Commodore baseball team hosts Alabama. Game time is 2 p.m. CT