Athletics

Reaching My Goals

N Our Voice by Jillian Martin

Reaching My GoalsScott Bruhn

My entire athletic career, I've pretty much always been one step ahead.

In fact, I've very rarely competed in my own age group.

When I was 14 years old, I became the youngest female bowler to qualify for Junior Team USA. Three years later, we won team silver in Helsingborg, Sweden.

I was also the youngest to win a professional event when I was 17.

Earlier this year, I became the youngest in history to win the professional women's major tournament, Queens, which was contested in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

For me, it's never been about the age as much as it is about the competition.

I’ve always focused on what I am capable of and the pursuit to reach my fullest potential. 

That’s what has always driven me.

I'm motivated by the mission of setting higher and higher goals for myself.

And going out and proving that time after time.

It's been that way for as long as I can remember my entire athletic career.

Competing Ahead of My Age

I got my start in bowling when I was five years old.

I was an athletic kid, and my uncle ran some bowling tournaments, so he was the one who got me into it.

He asked me one day if I wanted to learn how to bowl, and I said, "Sure, that sounds fun."

So, he started teaching me, and I started competing in a few adult/junior leagues with my dad.

I started to get pretty decent when I was about 13.

That was the first time I realized how good I could actually be and started setting some goals for myself.

The next year, I won a few tournaments and had the opportunity to qualify for Team USA, which was always a goal of mine, even at that young age.

I'll never forget that moment because I was actually the youngest female to ever qualify for Junior Team USA, and I was competing in the U20 division.

I was 14 at the time, and they only gave away developmental team spots in the U15 division.

I wanted to make the actual team and compete for my country, so I bowled up in the U20 division and ended up leading the qualifying to make the team.

It was a really big deal for me at the time, and that was kind of the moment where I realized just how far I could go in this sport.

I started competing on the international level with Junior Team USA and learning from some of the best bowlers in the world.

I'm extremely grateful for that opportunity and everything it has brought me up to this point.

I've been able to compete in tournaments all over the world, and it has given me a lot of experience and perspective that I wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.

I was the youngest to ever win a professional event when I won in 2021, and I was also the youngest to ever win the Queen's tournament in Green Bay, Wisconsin, earlier this year.

I'm 19 now and to be able to accomplish those things at my age is something that I never would have dreamed of.

My Junior Team USA experience has been incredible, and I'm extremely grateful for everything that it has brought me up to this point in my career.

But I'm also far from finished, and I'm going to continue to set the standard high for myself and my teammates.

Choosing Nebraska

Once it was time to look at colleges, I started to get attention from a couple of schools.

I was excited about the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level and to continue to grow and develop as a player.

When I started talking to Nebraska, I knew that was the place for me.

I had a list of a few programs that I wanted to talk to, and Nebraska was one of the schools that reached out to me.

I went on an official visit and fell in love with the school, the people, and everything that it had to offer.

The city, the facilities, the coaches, the players, everything was exactly what I was looking for in a program.

I just had a great experience on my visit, and I really enjoyed getting to know the coaches and the players. They were incredibly welcoming and nice to me, and I knew that was where I wanted to be.

I committed to Nebraska in the fall of 2021, and I couldn't be happier with my decision. It's been one of the most amazing experience to be a student-athlete here.

Setting the Standards High

Looking ahead, I'm excited for what our team can accomplish.

I'm hoping to help the team win a national championship. That's one of my biggest goals, and I really want to achieve that during my time at Nebraska.

I know that it's a team thing, but I just think it would be so much fun to accomplish that level of greatness with such a great group of girls.

In terms of my individual goals, it's gotten harder for me to set goals for myself because I'm just so driven.

I can become very focused on one thing and put all of my energy into it, but I'm in college now, and I have to balance that with being a student as well.

I'm just focused on doing what I can to be at the best level that I can be and to enjoy the experience.

That's the goal.