Pluhowsky Looks to Repeat Bowling World Cup Title

Tegucigalpa, Honduras ? University of Nebraska bowler Shannon Pluhowsky (Phoenix, Ariz.) looks to make history next week, as she travels to Honduras for the 2003 AMF Bowling World Cup. The event, considered the premier amateur event in the world, begins on Sunday, Sept. 28, and runs until Saturday, Oct. 4.

Pluhowsky, who earned the right to compete in next week's championship by virtue of her U.S. Amateur title last January, looks to become only the second person, male or female, in the event's 38-year history to repeat as champion. joining Jeanette Baker of Australia, who won back-to-back titles in 1982 and 1983. Pluhowsky won the Bowling World Cup women's title in Riga, Latvia, last October, defeating England's Nikki Harvey 2 games to 0 in the championship round (224-165, 202-183).

The Bowling World Cup caps a busy year for Pluhowsky, a junior on Husker bowling team. In August, she won gold (singles) and silver (doubles) at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A two-time U.S. Amateur Champion who has been a member of Team USA for the past four years, Pluhowsky has also dominated the world of college bowling. She earned BWAA Rookie of the Year and Bowler of the Year in 2001, helping the Huskers to a national title, and has won six tournaments during her first two years on campus.

In 2003-04, women's bowling will become the newest NCAA Championship sport with the inaugural championships scheduled for April 8-10. The Husker bowlers will begin the 2003-04 campaign at the Southern Classic in Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 1-2.