Shannon Pluhowsky Season 2001-02

Honors and Awards

• Two-Time Bowling World Cup Champion (2002, 2004)
• Three-time First-Team All-American (2001, 2002, 2004)
• Three-time U.S. Amateur Champion (2002-03-04)
• Four-time Team USA Member (2001-02-03-04)
• Four-time Junior Team USA Member (2000-01-02-03)
• NCAA Record for Single-Tournament Average (254.30, at 2003 Whitewater Invite)
• 2004 Collegiate Singles Champion
• 2004 NCAA Championship MVP
• 2003 Pan Am Games Gold (Singles) and Silver Medalist (Doubles)
• 2004 National Collegiate Singles First-Team All-American (2001, 2002, 2004)
• 2003 Bowling World Cup Runner-Up
• 2002 World Bowling Writers’ International Bowler of the Year
• 2002 Bowling Journal International Amateur Bowler of the Year
• 2002 Bowling World Cup Champion
• 2001 World Games Representative
• 2001 F.I.Q. Tournament of the Americas (6 gold medals)
• 2001 Bowling Writers Association of America College Bowler of the Year
• 2001 National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Bowler of the Year
• 2001 National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Rookie of the Year
• 2001 Intercollegiate Bowling Championship All-Tournament Team
• Three-Time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring ?03; Fall ?03; Spring ?04)

Collegiate Tournament Titles (10)

• 2001 Blue and Gold Classic
• 2000 TVEBA Classic
• 2000 Mid-States Invitational 
• 2000 Southern Classic
• 2000 Great Lakes Classic
• 2000 National Collegiate Championships
• 2003 Southern Classic 
• 2003 Whitewater Invitational
• 2003 Team Match Games 
• 2004 Holiday Collegiate Classic

2004-05 Review
Shannon Pluhowsky ended her tenure at Nebraska as one of the best bowlers in collegiate history. The two-time Bowling World Cup champion and 2003 Pan American Games Gold Medalist, Pluhowsky dominated the sport as few others have in recent years. The three-time reigning U.S. National Amateur champion was on Team USA for four seasons, and was a four-time All-American at the collegiate level, guiding the Huskers to a pair of national crowns. She also made history by earning the prestigious National Player of the Year award three times (2001, 2004 and 2005).

In 36 career events at Nebraska, she has 25 top-five finishes, including a school-record 12 individual titles. In fact, she has finished in the top 25 in every tournament she has competed since arriving in Lincoln in the fall of 2000.

2003-04 Review
Pluhowsky led Nebraska to one of its most successful seasons in school history, including the first NCAA Tournament title. Her average of 221.788 was the second-highest average in school history, while she won four of the nine tournaments she competed. Pluhowsky got out of the gates quickly, winning three of her first four tournaments, including a school and NCAA record average of 254.30 at the Whitewater Invitational in November. After a pair of top-25 showings, she closed the regular season on a strong note, winning the Holiday Collegiate Classic with an average of 242.875 before finishing second at the NCAA Championships with an average of 233.429. She was also named the Tournament MVP, leading the Huskers through the loser’s bracket to defeat Central Missouri State in the finals. Pluhowsky also shined in national and international competition, finishing second at the 2003 Bowling World Cup, while claiming her third straight U.S. Amateur title in January of 2004.

2002-03 Review
Pluhowsky redshirted in 2002-03. Although she did not compete in collegiate competition, Pluhowsky continued her dominance at the national and international levels. In October of 2002, she became the first American since 1990 to win the Bowling World Cup when she placed first in Riga, Latvia, including a 299 game during the qualifying round. She repeated as U.S. Amateur champion in 2003, qualifying for Team USA for the third consecutive season before capping her summer by winning gold (singles) and silver (doubles) medals at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

2001-02 Review
Pluhowsky was one of the nation’s premier college bowlers, leading Nebraska to seven tournament titles and a trio of runner-up finishes in 2001-02. She earned first-team All-America honors from the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association, as her average of 208.96 in 93 games paced the Huskers and ranked third nationally. After winning six tournaments as a freshman, Pluhowsky went winless in 2001-02, but was a consistent placer for the Big Red, finishing in the top 10 in eight of her 10 tournaments, including six top-five finishes. She posted her season-best average of 233.00 at the Brunswick Coca-Cola Classic, where she finished third among 108 bowlers, and at the National Team Match Games, where she finished third among 212 bowlers with an average of 232.46 in 11 games. Pluhowsky’s best finish of the year came at regionals, where she finished second with a 218.78 average in nine games.

In the summer of 2002 she was crowned the Junior World Champion and won the 2002 U.S. Amateur Championship in Reno, Nev., where she qualified for Team USA. Pluhowsky, a four-year member of Junior Team USA, also represented the United States at the 2001 World Games in Japan, where she recorded an eighth-place finish.

2000-01 Review
Pluhowsky enjoyed one of the finest seasons ever by a collegiate rookie bowler, leading NU to its fifth national title in school history and second since bowling became a varsity sport in 1997. The National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association named Pluhowsky college bowling’s MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2001. She became only the second female bowler in collegiate history to sweep both honors in the same season, joining Elizabeth Johnson of Morehead State in 1993. Pluhowsky was also tabbed the College Bowler of the Year by the Bowling Writer’s Association of America.

She opened her collegiate career in record-setting fashion, winning her first five tournaments, becoming the first freshman in collegiate bowling to accomplish the feat. In all, she won six tournament titles and averaged a 222.14 in 96 games, as her average led the nation by more than five pins per game. Pluhowsky placed in the top five in eight tournaments and averaged a 220 or better in five meets, including a pair of competitions where she bettered a 240 average. Her career best was a 242.18 at the National Team Match Games, where she rolled a total of 3,192 pins in 14 games.

Before Nebraska/Personal
Pluhowsky was a member of the 2000 Junior Team USA while still a senior at Paradise Valley High School. The daughter of Kathy and Nick Pluhowsky, Shannon was born on Aug. 8, 1982, and has one younger sister, Tiffany. A member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Pluhowsky majors in family and consumer sciences, where she carries a 3.123 GPA.