National champion Bearcats return home to a celebration
The McKendree University Bearcats left for Baton Rouge, La. two weeks ago hoping to reaffirm their position as one of the top Women’s bowling programs in the nation.
Two weeks of competition later, the Bearcats returned home to Lebanon on Monday to a victory celebration fit for a two-time national champion.
A large crowd of McKendree students, athletes, administration and coaches gathered in the university dining room to honor a McKendree program that beat the heavyweights of collegiate bowling to accomplish a feat accomplished only once before, winning two national championships in two weeks.
The Bearcats put the finishing touch on a memorable two weeks of competition at Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge on Saturday when they won United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships. It was at the bowling center a week earlier McKendree won the NCAA Women’s Bowling national championship.
“To be honest about it. I’m not sure its really sunk in what we (this bowling program) accomplished,” a tired McKendree University coach Shannon O’Keefe said. “It’s every college athlete’s goal to be able to hold that NCAA championship trophy.
“But for this team to be able to face some adversity, do their school work and study and stay to locked in the next week and win again. It was an amazing accomplishment. To me the pressure was winning the ITC championship. We went from the hunter to the hunted. Every team there wanted to knock off McKendree University and for our team to keep its poise and bowl the way it did, was just remarkable.”
To win a national championship is something we’re worked for all year. To win two, it’s just starting to hit me what we accomplished.
McKendree junior Sarah Wille
On Saturday, McKendree defeated Webber International University 3-2 in the final as it joined Maryland Eastern-Shore University as the only programs to win both the NCAA and ITC titles in the same year. Maryland Eastern-Shore won both in 2011.
“The goal was to win the national title,” McKendree junior Sarah Wille said Monday. “I don’t think there was really any pressure because we knew what we could do and we just had to stay focused on making good shots. To win a national championship is something we’re worked for all year. To win two, it’s just starting to hit me what we accomplished.”
McKendree entered the ITC championship with plenty of momentum after winning the NCAA Women’s championship. That effort, which made McKendree the first NCAA Division II school to win the title since the NCAA began sponsoring Women’s bowling in 2004, came in convincing fashion. The Bearcats became the first team to sweep the finals, blanking the University of Nebraska 4-0.
Freshman Breanna Clemmer arrived at McKendree from Clover, S.C., this year not knowing really what to expect. What she got was a season she won’t ever forget.
“I knew coach (Shannon) O’Keefe from USA Bowling and once I came to McKendree, I knew it was a place and program where we could build and be part of something pretty special. We did that,” Clemmer said following the celebration. “It was a great two weeks.”
O’Keefe, one of the top players on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour, was busy practicing Monday and will leave early this week for the first stop of the season at the Sonoma (Calif.) County Open. In three weeks, O’Keefe will return to the Raising Cane’s River Center to compete in the first major championship of the season the USBC Queens.
Also honored Monday was the McKendree men’s bowling program that placed second in the Intercollegiate Team Championships. Bidding for its second straight title, McKendree lost 3-2 to Webber International in the baker-style title match.
This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 9:54 PM with the headline "National champion Bearcats return home to a celebration."