Huskers Head to Las Vegas

Lincoln -- The Nebraska bowling team heads west this weekend to compete in the Brunswick Coca-Cola Classic. The tournament, annually one of the nation’s premier college events, takes place on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, with scheduled start times of 10 a.m. (CST) each morning.

For Coach Bill Straub and the Huskers, this weekend’s tournament provides NU with a chance to bounce back from a third-place showing two weekends ago.

"We are a lot of bowlers chomping at the bit to get back to action," Straub said. "They want to bounce back this weekend and have really worked hard in practice over the past two weeks."

Straub said the competition for spots this weekend have been fierce, and NU is heading west with a lineup of Amanda Burgoyne (Newport, Minn.), Jamie Martin (Omaha, Neb.), Adrienne Miller (Albuquerque, N.M.), Shannon Pluhowsky (Phoenix, Ariz.), Jen Schultz (Portland, Ore.) and Melissa Stewart (Ft. Pierce, Fla.). While this is the Huskers’ first team competition in Las Vegas, Pluhowsky and Burgoyne will be making their second trip this month, as they competed at the U.S. Amateur championships earlier in January.

The Huskers, who have won both Teir-I events (Southern Classic and National Team Match Games) this season, are looking for their third straight Coca-Cola Classic title. In 2003, NU swept the top two places, as Paola Gomez won the event with a .205 average, while Stewart finished with a .204 average in seven games.

One of the strong points for the Huskers has been the play of Adrienne Miller, who has two top-five finishes in four events and has an average of 197.86.

"She has bowled extremely well for being a freshman," Straub said. "We expected Amanda (Burgoyne) to step in immediately, but Adrienne has been a pleasant surprise. She will be a very good one before her career is over here."

Last Time Out: Huskers Streak Ends at Four
The Huskers’ quest for a school-record fifth straight tournament title ended on Jan. 18, as NU placed third in the Southern Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. The two-day tournament was conducted in two distinct formats, a 10-game competition with team scoring and 10 head-to-head matches among the teams. The Huskers won the total pinfall competition with a total of 9,150 pins, beating Central Missouri State’s total of 8,853 for top honors. In the head-to-head matches, the Huskers finished third with an 8-2 record, trailing Central Missouri State, which went a perfect 10-0, and Bethune Cookman, which finished with a 9-1 mark.

Individually, the Huskers placed three bowlers among the top four, as junior Shannon Pluhowsky and freshman Adrienne Miller tied for second overall with an average of 211, while sophomore Jamie Martin finished fourth with an average of 207. Miller’s finish was the best of her career, as he placed third in the season opener, while Martin picked up her third top-five finish in the last four tournaments.

Huskers Well Represented on Team USA
While the team was off, a pair of current Huskers got the year off on the right foot at the U.S. Amateur championships. Shannon Pluhowsky won her third straight U.S. Amateur title with a total pinfall of 10,387 pins. Her pinfall beat Olivia Sandham’s total by 105 pins, as Pluhowsky averaged 208.90 over 40 games. It marked the first time that a female bowler won three straight U.S. Amateur titles and clinched Pluhowsky’s fourth straight appearance on Team USA. Another current Husker joined Pluhowsky on Team USA, as freshman Amanda Burgoyne earned one of the automatic qualifying marks with a fifth-place showing. Burgonye finished with a pinfall of 10,098 (205.70 avg.) over five days of bowling. Burgoyne, who will make her first appearance on Team USA, also turned in the top average during three days of qualifying, topping more than 100 bowlers with an average of 212.