When you think of college athletics, the main sports that come to mind are basketball and football, with the mention of swimming, baseball, and soccer on the back burner. Bowling is often overlooked but it is growing exponentially across the United States with over 200 schools competing in conference sanctioned tournaments, allowing bowlers to letter as well.

Our own local college, Elizabeth City State, is one of the schools that has a bowling team, and the Lady Vikings have had much success.

With college bowling comes several benefits that make it worthwhile to stick with bowling when you are young and follow through with it.

The first has to be the scholarships that are awarded in bowling. Before you ever make it to college, all across the country there are scholarship tournaments, allowing bowlers to build up scholarship money for the day they go off to the university of their choice.

Colleges also offer athletic scholarships to bowlers. The trick is finding a school that is in the mix every year and is competitive on a national level.

For the most part, the Midwest schools are the powerhouses when it comes to collegiate bowling, with schools like Nebraska and Witchita State among those always in the hunt for the national title.

One final benefit of collegiate bowling is that it can be a stepping-stone to prestigious careers on Team USA or even the PBA Tour.

Stars on the tour such as former player of the year Chris Barnes and reigning player of the year, Sean Rash, both attended Witchita State and Barnes got his professional start as a member of Team USA.

The format for collegiate bowling is a mix of regular team bowling, just like in league play, as well as baker format, in which a five-person team alternates shots, with each bowler throwing two frames in the game.

If collegiate bowling strikes your fancy, then check out www.bowl.com. There you will find plenty of information on the sport as well as details on this season’s national championships, where the top 16 seeds in men and women have been decided and the finals will be televised on CBS in May.

Adam Meads found his mark to knock King Joey off of his throne this week, leading the league with his 224/649, followed by a 225/639 from Boris Beatty and a 255 from William Swinson.

The ladies were led by June Pittman, firing a nice 192 game to squeak out top honors over the 191 of Debbie Winslow and 188 of Kim Myers.

Mark Tarkington had another phenomenal week with back-to-back 700 efforts, tossing a 249/724 and moving to within five pins of Joey Winslow for season high average. Adam Meads followed with a big 663 as Rick Brakefield added a 247/630 and Bobby Winslow a 248.

Kaytee Davis, who has the high female average in the house, led again with a 212/603, followed by a 188 from Kristy Hall and a 165 from Crystal Owen.

Paula Mohr topped the league with her 192 game, followed by a 158 from Patsy Sanders and Linda Hoy.

Ocie Manos led the way with a nice 214 game, finishing ahead of Patsy Sanders and her 193 and Jeanne Parker and her 181.

Bobby Winslow had a consistent night on the way to a league-high 243/681, followed by a 260/601 from Boris Beatty. Rondell Christian added a 246.

Janet Ackerley led the ladies with her 189 game, followed by a 151 from Leonora Vactor and a 147 from Margaret Butts.