On Sept. 23, the 2008-2009 National Championship men’s and women’s Shocker bowling teams were honored on one of the largest platforms in the country: the U.S. House of Representatives.

House Resolution 455 was agreed on, acknowledging and congratulating the Shocker men and women for their national championship sweep at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships in April 2009.

The resolution was brought by Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt and was supported by Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania.

“By its very nature, a national title is special, but having both men’s and women’s teams winning the same title on the same year is truly remarkable,” said Tiahrt in front of the House.

Tiahrt went on to talk about the National Championship tournament and name each member of the bowling teams, as well as the coaches. Hirono also spoke about the Shocker bowling tradition at Wichita State University.

Thompson spoke about the history of bowling and the history of WSU, its origins, development and how WSU became the Shockers.

“Recognition and congratulations from not only our state representative, Mr. Tiahrt, but from the United States House of Representatives is amazing, not only for Shocker bowling, but for Wichita State University as well,” said head coach Gordon Vadakin. “We are very honored to have been acknowledged at such a level.”

The resolution lasted about 10 minutes and was shown on CSPAN and can be seen at http://www.wichita.edu/j/?237.

The Shocker bowling section of the House meeting can be found at the 1 hour and 47 minute mark.