Aug. 16, 2012
LAS VEGAS – Vanderbilt assistant bowling coach Josie Earnest makes her official Team USA debut here at the Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON) Aug. 20-25.
Earnest was a long-time member of Junior Team USA and carries plenty of international experience, but the 2010 Vanderbilt graduate admits this tournament is different.
“There are five cinch hall of famers and me!” Earnest modestly says speaking of the strong United States squad of Liz Johnson, Leanne Hulsenberg, Diandra Asbaty, Shannon Pluhowsky and Stephanie Nation. “I’m excited and a little nervous because I haven’t competed internationally with this team.”
The two-time NCAA Player of the Year, who earlier this summer finished fifth at the USBC Queen’s to earn her biggest professional paycheck to date, says she has been working hard on her game to make up for lost time.
“We have really been recruiting hard this summer and then I went with the Vanderbilt team to Europe for 10 days so I didn’t get a chance to practice,” Earnest says. She has been spending lots of recent time at the Smyrna Bowling Center working on specific lane patterns.
“There is a very strong 10-person roster that the Team USA coaches chose from,” Earnest explains, “and perhaps one reason I was picked is that the best part of my game is the short pattern and there is reason to believe we will see some short patterns at this event.”
Earnest actually made a cameo appearance with Team USA several years ago when she was once allowed to compete with the team as a member of Junior Team USA in the Tournament of Americas.
The PABCON tournament includes a men’s and women’s field simultaneously and Earnest likes that format.
“The men’s team is stacked with outstanding professionals and I can pick their brains to learn things I don’t know,” she says.
The tournament will be held at the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino’s 72-lane center and will be live streamed by bowl.com.