Bowlers Conclude Regular Season This Weekend in Alabama

Lincoln -- The Nebraska bowling team concludes the regular-season portion of its schedule this weekend, as the Huskers will travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the Holiday Collegiate Classic. It is Nebraska’s final tournament before bids for the inaugural NCAA Championships are announced on March 24, and Coach Bill Straub is looking for a strong performances this weekend.

"This is an important weekend for us," Straub said. "With the field we are going to see this weekend, we want to bowl well and give us some momentum heading into the NCAA Championships."

The tournament, which runs Friday (Noon) and Saturday (8 a.m.) will be an NCAA-caliber field, which will include Fairleigh Dickinson, which upset the Huskers last weekend, Central Missouri State, Southern University, which won the SWAC championship and Wisconsin-Whitewater in addition to host Alabama A&M.

The Huskers will juggle their lineup for this weekend, as sophomores Nicole Aleo and Karla Engh will make the trek to Birmingham. This is Aleo’s second tournament of 2003-04, as she averaged a 188.833 at the Whitewater Invitational in November, while Engh, who bowled in 38 games last season, will make her season debut this weekend.

"Teams are allowed to bring eight bowlers to the NCAA Championships and we want to give Nicole and Karla an opportunity to compete this weekend," Straub said. "There is enough pressure at a championship that you don’t want to make that tournament your first of the year."

Burgoyne; Miller Making Freshman Waves
Freshmen Adrienne Miller and Amanda Burgoyne have quietly enjoyed two of the best freshman seasons in school history. Burgoyne has bowled in all six tournaments, averaging a 199.191, a mark that would rank fourth among all NU freshmen. Burgoyne, a current Team USA member from Newport, Minn., joins Shannon Pluhowsky as NU’s only other individual event winner, taking home the Women’s Triad Classic in November. She has four top-five finishes and seven top-25 finishes. Miller, who has competed in six of the Huskers’ seven tournaments, is averaging a 196.805 in 41 games, including a pair of third-place finishes.

Pluhowsky Featured in SI on Campus
Shannon Pluhowsky is featured nationally in last week’s edition of Sports Illustrated on Campus. The three-time U.S. Amateur champion is profiled in a three-page story with other Olympic sport standouts and includes a portrait of Pluhowsky and one of her bowling balls frozen in a 300-pound block of ice. On the season, Pluhowsky’s current average of 216.882 would rank second in school history, trailing only her school-record average of 222.140 set in 2000-01. She has three tournament wins this season, upping her total to nine for the three-time U.S. Amateur champion. She set an NCAA record with a 254 average to win the Whitewater Invitational in November.

Last Week: Huskers Finish Second at NCAA Northeast Challenge
Nebraska finished in second place at the NCAA Northeast Challenge at Parkway Lanes last wekeend. The Huskers finished the three-day tournament with a 9-6 mark, placing behind Fairleigh Dickinson’s mark of 12-3. Sacred Heart tied NU for second with a 9-6 record, but the Huskers won the tiebreaker, while New Jersey City University (7-8) and North Carolina A&T (6-9) rounded out the field. The Huskers were led by Amanda Burgoyne, who averaged a 212 in posting her third top-five finish of the season and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.