EAST GREENSBORO – As North Carolina A&T prepares to bowl its way to national championship success at the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Singles Championships (ISC) and Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) events in Las Vegas, the Aggies bowling team received additional postseason hardware from the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA).
Two Aggies received NTCA All-America honorable mention honors in Melanie Katen and Lauren Tomaszewski. In addition, Katen, Tomaszewski and sophomore Chloe Newberry earned first-team NTCA All-Northeast Region honors.
"What a fantastic honor," said A&T head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney. "The hard work they have put in over the past few seasons continues to pay off. We are so proud."
Katen and Tomaszewski have added their names alongside some legendary names from A&T bowling. Katen is the reigning two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) bowler of the year.
A year ago, Katen added to her first-team All-MEAC and bowler of the year recognition by being named a third-team All-American by NTCA. Those honors were complemented by her earning NTCA All-Freshman team and first-team All-Northeast Region last season. In addition, Katen's season was punctuated by the program's first perfect game (300 total pinfall).
Tomaszewski has become a historical figure as well. In the long line of outstanding bowlers in A&T's past, a year ago, Tomaszewski became the first in program history to secure first-team All-America honors. She also received first-team NTCA All-Northeast honors a year ago. In addition, Tomaszewski is the reigning two-time MEAC tournament most outstanding bowler, and she is a three-time all-conference performer, including two first-team honors.
Newberry's accolades have come this season. She earned first-team All-MEAC honors in March after posting a .845 fame fill percentage, a .907 single-pin spare percentage, and a .698 spare conversion percentage. In addition, Newberry averaged 19.97 pins/frame before the MEAC tournament.
The Aggies are coming off their third straight MEAC tournament championship. As a result, they also reached their third straight NCAA tournament. They went 2-2 at the Rochester Regional, where Arkansas State eliminated them in the regional final.
A&T now has a chance at another national title. In March, the Aggies qualified Cristina Acosta and Tomaszewski at the Daytona Regional of the ISC. The two will be one of 24 women competing for an individual national title, April 17-22, at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.
As a team last month, A&T won the Daytona ITC sectional by totaling 12,398 pins over 64 Baker games. They played four blocks of 16 games apiece over two days, with the Aggies placing seventh after the first block with 2,844 pins. But the Aggies played incredibly over the final three blocks, totaling 3,192 pins in the second block to slide up to third place behind Sacred Heart and the University of Pikeville. They then bowled a 3,065 in Block 3 to move into a tie for first with Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD) with 9,199 pins. In the fourth block, SCAD bowled a 3,177. But the Aggies had their best block of the weekend, bowling a clutch-filled 3,199 to become the women's division team Dayton champions.
The ITC, first contested in 1975, brings together the country's top 16 men's and women's teams to compete for national titles. The top four men's and women's teams from each sectional tournament earn berths into the ITC, April 19-22 at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.
The Aggies won the ITC national championship in 2015.
