Youngstown State Joins Southland Bowling League
Southland Bowling League
FRISCO, Texas – Youngstown State University is set to begin competition in the Southland Bowling League for the 2018-19 season, Executive Director Thomas Samuel announced Tuesday.
“We are very excited that Youngstown State will join the Southland Bowling League this year,” said Samuel. “It’s evident in their results over the last two years they are building a program that strives to compete at the highest level in NCAA bowling, and there is no better league to accomplish that goal in than ours.”
Youngstown State completed its second season of bowling in 2017-18, entering at No. 24 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Preseason Top 25 Poll. The team boosted its winning percentage to .490 last season, up from .440 in 2016-17. The Penguins won 48 matches overall, a four-win improvement from the previous year.
The Penguins earned 12 total victories over teams ranked in the top 25 and beat 34 different teams during the season. Four different bowlers were the top individual finishers at tournaments throughout the season.
“Joining the Southland Bowling League is a great opportunity for the student-athletes in our bowling program to annually compete against some of the top teams in the country,” said Ron Strollo, YSU Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. “We have a solid foundation for a very successful program, and we’re excited to continue progressing toward our high aspirations as members of the SBL.”
Youngstown State is led by third-year head coach Chelsea Gilliam, who has been at the helm of the program since its inception. Gilliam spent the 2015-16 academic year recruiting the first team in school history, securing Holiday Bowl as YSU's home facility and preparing a schedule. The 2016-17 season was Youngstown State's first as an intercollegiate sport, and she immediately had the Penguins among the top 25 teams in the country, finishing their inaugural season at No. 25 in the NTCA poll. YSU was the only first-year program to be ranked in the final top 25.
“We are very excited to join the Southland Bowling League,” Gilliam said. “This is a tough conference with some of the best teams in NCAA bowling, and I am happy we get to be a part of that. We will now be able to compete for conference awards as well as automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships. The coaches and Southland staff have already been very welcoming to us.”
Gilliam was a four-year member of the University of Pikeville (Ky.) bowling team, and she was a senior on the 2012 NAIA national championship team. She twice participated in the United States Bowling Congress National Tournament while she was a student-athlete. She graduated from Pikeville in 2012 with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and psychology.
The Southland Bowling League is entering its fifth season of competition after capping 2018 with a national championship from Vanderbilt. The SBL has received at least three bids to the NCAA Championship in each season since it began play in 2015. In 2018, the first year for automatic bids to the NCAA Championship and also the first year for a 10-team championship event, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid while Arkansas State and Sam Houston State received at-large bids. Youngstown State’s arrival comes as part of a realignment which saw charter member Monmouth depart for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference beginning with this upcoming season.