The Sam Houston State University women’s bowling team came out on top at the annual Kat Klash this past weekend in Houston.
The Bearkats had a pair of impressive wins, which included a win over No. 1 Nebraska. With the weekend win, the Kats claimed their second title. Senior Janine Kuwahara was named to the All-Tournament team.
Women’s bowling head coach Brad Hagen felt hat his team did what they needed to do to come out on top.
“Overall the event went very well and the results were what we were hoping for,” Hagen said. “We still had our ups and downs but we were able to prevail and most importantly we were able to keep our emotions in check and execute our shots a lot better than last week end, which was important for this event to do our best.”
Coach Hagen also feels that winning their event is huge, since it is the first time in four years that the Bearkats have done so.
“Winning our own event is huge,” Hagen said. “For us to get over that hump and perform how we did and to beat the high-quality teams is a good sign moving forward for us. Hopefully we will end the first half in a high note next week when we head to Delaware for the UMES Hawk Classic.”
The Bearkats believed that the toughest team to compete against was themselves. Bowling can be both physically and mentally draining.
“To be honest, the toughest team to compete against is ourselves,” Hagen said. “Our competition was very good across the board and were some very high quality and competitive caliber teams, but our biggest opponent is ourselves. If we can control our emotions and not let that dictate our actions, we can execute shots and battle through with a clear mind, thus the results will be very positive.”
Hagen felt that the Kats came out on top because the whole team played their part
“The whole team contributed,” Hagen said. “Our upper classmen really pulled their weight. Senior Heather Penatzer, Kuwahara, senior Stephanie Zavala, and senior Madysen Keller were in the rotation most the event, but all around everyone contributed.”
SHSU will look to continue their hot momentum at the UMES Hawk Classic in Millsboro, DE. The team believes that the Kat Klash victory will prepare them for future challenges.
“It [the Kat Klash] will prepare us mentally very well,” Hagen said. “We are going into a very strong field and there will be 18 teams there so this was a big weekend for us to mentally prepare ourselves for Delaware. We need to focus this week so that the results will show in the next event.”
The UMES Hawk Classic will be held on Friday.