Huntsville Lanes To Host Track Kat Klash
11/27/2011 6:42:00 PM | Women's Bowling
SHSU head women's bowling coach Brad Hagen has lined up an exciting field for the event which will take place this Friday through Sunday Dec. 2-4.
"This is going to be a really exciting event and will give us a great opportunity to introduce our sport to Huntsville area Bearkat fans," Hagen said. "The field features all four of Texas NCAA Division I bowling teams, three Louisiana competitors and three top nationally ranked big name teams."
To add to the excitement, Bowl.com has announced their web site will stream all three days action live.
"This is great exposure for our sport and our university," Hagen said. "Certainly it's going to be exciting for our three seniors to have the opportunity to play before their home fans. We're looking to have great crowds all three days."
Teams included in the Track Kat Klash field are Alabama State, Arkansas State, Grambling State, Long Island, Louisiana Tech, Monmouth, Nebraska, Prairie View A&M, Stephen F. Austin, Texas Southern and Vanderbilt.
Along with Sam Houston, Arkansas State, Nebraska and Vanderbilt were NCAA Division Elite Eight tournament participants in Detroit last year.
During its first season of competition, the SHSU bowling team rolled up a match record of 70 victories and only 42 losses. More than half of their wins came over squads ranked among the nation's top 20 and all but four of the losses were to ranked foes.
The season ended with Sam Houston becoming the first inaugural program to earn an NCAA Division I national tournament berth in the eight-year history of the event. The Bearkats were one of eight squads invited to the NCAA tournament in Detroit where they won two matches before being eliminated.
Seniors Dana Galganski, Lisa MacAllister and Aida Sanchez lead this year's team.
Sophomores Neishka Cardona and Kimi Davidson also return from last year's squad that participated in eight major national tournaments, each with fields made up of top nationally-ranked opponents.
Further strengthening the squad are two top recruits. Freshman Elise Bolton of Merritt Island, Florida, has earned numerous gold medals playing for the USA National Junior Team and last summer participated in international events for Team USA. Michelle Secours, a junior transfer from Bellarmine University brings a resume that includes 13 top 25 performances in 21 intercollegiate events as a freshman and sophomore.
Sam Houston stands 28-12 in NCAA match play this fall. The Bearkats won the Piney Woods Shootout with SFA and placed third in the the New Jersey Jamboree and Ozark Classic tournament. The Bearkats currently rank No. 7 nationally.
The three day schedule for the Track Kat Klash calls for five sets of quad Baker matches on day one, traditional team matches on day two, and bracket play best of seven Baker competition on the final day.
