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11/16/2005 Josie Earnest, generally regarded as the No. 1 high school bowler in the nation, has signed a national letter of intent to attend Vanderbilt University. The Vandalia, Ill., native is the youngest member of the prestigious Junior Team USA while ranking second in her high school class of 110. “Josie Earnest is a tremendously talented young woman,” Commodore Head Coach John Williamson says. “Everyone considered her the cream of this year’s crop. She has outstanding skills on the lanes along with an enormous amount of experience in national and international competition. She is an excellent student. In short, she is exactly the type student-athlete that Vanderbilt is attracting and we are so pleased she will be joining our program.” Earnest won five Gold Medals last June with Junior Team USA at the International Youth Friendship Tournament in the Dominican Republic, capturing the singles, doubles, team, all-events and Masters titles. Two months later, Earnest won three Gold Medals and one Silver Medal in another international competition — the Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale. She won three consecutive Pepsi Cola State Championships from 2001-2004 and won the 2004 Junior Masters Tournament in Dayton, Ohio after placing second and third in prior years. Earnest is a six-time Illinois Scholarship Bowling Club champion and twice won the Illinois State Amateur Championship (2003-2004). She has two top 12 finishes in the Junior Gold Tournament, which attracts over 400 of the nation’s finest women’s bowlers. She was eighth at the 2005 National Amateur Championships in Dallas. She is a three-time champion of the Indiana Youth Scholarship Bowlers Tour and won the 2004 Iowa Youth Scholarship Bowlers Tour. She also captured the 2003 Keystone Tournament of Champions in Pennsylvania. Josie has two sanctioned 300 games, one being under “sport shot” conditions, with a high series of 767. Earnest has also had success on her high school tennis team (her school does not field a bowling team). Josie won two conference tennis singles titles and qualified for the 2005 Illinois state tournament. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, student council and the National Honor Roll. She is considering majors of chemical engineering and accounting at Vanderbilt. “On top of the great academics,” Earnest said in discussing her selection of Vanderbilt, “I thought the people I met across the campus were genuinely nice and the campus is just beautiful. There was no downside to Vanderbilt.” Earnest will join a rapidly improving Commodore team that has what many consider the best freshmen class in the country. |
