FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2015

CONTACT:
Gordon Vadakin
Phone (316) 978-7655
Fax (316) 978-6056
email - shocker.bowling@wichita.edu
www.wichita.edu/bowling

Excellence Occurs in More than One Place

WICHITA, Kan. – While it is evident the Shocker men’s and women’s teams are putting the work in on the lanes, they are living up to the name “student-athlete” by putting forth the effort in the classroom. This is proven by the record breaking 18 Academic All-Americans the Shocker bowling team has this season.

Seven freshmen, five sophomores, four juniors and two seniors achieved All-American status in the classroom this year by earning a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better. Over 275 Shockers have achieved this status, a statistic head coach Gordon Vadakin loves to share.

“Our players are student-athletes, meaning they are students first. Their education is their number one priority and I love that our students take that seriously,” Vadakin said. “As much as I enjoy sharing in their on-lane successes, I truly enjoy sharing in the classroom successes.”

Transitioning from high school to college and being a student athlete can be quite the challenge. Sierra Kanemoto (Dayton, Ohio) used a few tools to keep herself on track.

“I would bring a voice recorder to class and record my lectures to go over them later if I had questions,” Kanemoto said. “I also wrote everything down in a planner and prioritized my assignments so I was getting things done on time.”

Between practice, lessons, team meetings, homework, classes and traveling, nearly every hour of every week is taken up. Junior and three-time Academic All-American Catherine Prather came up with a few solutions.

“School comes first; if that means staying in on the weekends to do my homework, that’s what I do. I also brought my homework everywhere with me. I would do it in the hotel or even on the bus,” Prather said.


The list of Academic All-American’s from this season include:
Line Berg-Almestrand, freshman (Hønefess, Norway)
Sydney Brummett, freshman (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Jason Ciszewski, sophomore (South Amboy, N.J.)
Stephen Cowland, junior (Blackbutt, Australia)
Francois Lavoie, senior (Québec City, Québec)
Derick Holmes, freshman (Wichita, Kan.)
Mitch Hupé, sophomore (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Sierra Kanemoto, freshman (Dayton, Ohio)
Dasha Kovalova, junior (Moscow, Russia)
Alex Lankford, freshman (Moon Twp., Pa.)
Matt McNiel, graduate (Prior Lake, Minn.)
Rachel Moe, junior (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
Julie Nolte, freshman (Wichita, Kan.)
Catherine Prather, junior (Milton, Fla.)
Jack Stewart, sophomore (Park City, Kan.)
Caitlin Tam, sophomore (Markham, Ontario)
Katelyn Tollefson, freshman (Leavenworth, Kan.)
Justin Zwaschka, sophomore (St. Joe, Mo.)

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The Rhatigan Student Center has been the major financial and administrative supporter of the Wichita State University bowling program since 1959.