There is an old saying in the bowling world: “Strikes are for show, spares are for dough.” Few teams represented that mindset better last season than the Southern Nazarene University men’s bowling team.
Led by head coach Mark Jeffreys, the Crimson Storm entered sectionals at Cityview Lanes in Fort Worth, Texas, ranked 29th in the nation following an inconsistent regular season. SNU rallied to finish in the top four, securing a spot in the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Once at nationals, SNU knocked off top-seeded Weber International in the opening round of match play and followed up with a victory over McKendree University. Although losses to St. Ambrose and Marian University ended their bid for a national title on CBS Sports, the Crimson Storm’s post-season run turned heads across the bowling world. Bowling Life called SNU “the biggest story on the men’s side.”
Sophomore Riley Speer, who was at one point the top freshman bowler in the nation last season, made the all-tournament team at three events, including a Tier 1 event at Mid States in Wichita, Kansas. He was also named an honorable mention to the collegiate All-American team.
While discussing the turning point of last season, Speer highlighted the impact of team chemistry.
“One thing that Coach Jeffreys reiterated frequently last season was how to be a team, we’re all working as one,” Speer stated. “And the biggest thing that helped me and the rest of the team was that we grew and we learned so much throughout the season. We learned from those hard times, and if we fail, we fail together.”
The team also had to battle through adversity at the end of the year during sectionals.
“I think it really helped us at sectionals when we were in the valley and we were last through 12 games, because once one person starts us off, we can all build from it and achieve success as a team,” Speer noted.
Dealing with the high-stakes pressure at the Intercollegiate Team Championships was another hurdle.
“One way that I kept myself from getting worked up was I put myself in the mindset of, ‘I’ve been here before and I’ve done this before,’” Speer explained. “Bowling Junior Gold in that same bowling center the previous summer, so it was easy for me to get into the monster of a massive national tournament, in a high-pressure situation, because I knew in my mind that I had done it before.”
Despite the disappointment of how the ITC ended, Speer said he is only looking ahead.
“This year we are more prepared than last year because we’ve been in that situation before, and we can work more on staying at the peak instead of constantly dipping down into the valley,” Speer said.
Head Coach Mark Jeffreys addressed the target on the team’s back and how they plan to handle the external pressure.
“The mindset is that people still think we will not make it back to nationals,” Jeffreys commented. “They think last year was a fluke, they think that we lucked out, and the mindset with this group has to be to believe that we can get back to nationals. That mindset was established from the first meeting.”
Jeffreys also noted the depth and drive of this year’s squad.
“This is the best group that we’ve had in the four years that I’ve been here,” Jeffreys expressed. “I think they are driven, and it’s already been demonstrated at practice what our goal is, even very early in the season. If one person doesn’t have the goal of establishing that mindset to make it back to nationals, they’re probably not at the right program.”
As the season approaches, the coach’s outlook remains firm.
“Expectations are high, and we will not lose,” Jeffreys said. “We might get beat, but we will not lose.”
SNU Men’s Bowling is off to a solid start in practice leading up to their first tournament in September, the Crowne Classic at Holiday Lanes in Oklahoma City. Until then, the Crimson Storm will keep working to shock the bowling world once again.
Photo by: SNU Bowling Facebook Page