Dec 4th – The Sojourn’s Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Abby Shewan from the Indiana Wesleyan Women’s Bowling team.
Shewan is a junior from Mansfield, OH, and a graduate of Mansfield Christian HS.
“I started bowling in high school and then decided it would be a good thing to continue in college,” Shewan said. “Just having that opportunity to continue something that I enjoyed in middle and high school at the collegiate level is really, really cool.”
Head Coach Chris Karlin is in his first season leading the Men’s and Women’s bowling programs at IWU. The women’s team itself is in the fourth season as a program.
“Abby leads by her work ethic. She shows up for practice ready to bowl and learn and grow and encourages her teammates to do the same.”
During her career as a Wildcat, Shewan has had eight Top-25 finishes.
“Moving forward [as a leader],” Shewan said. “I’m going to find interests that we have on the team and go out and do those to experience different kinds of life with each other.”
Shewan sees herself in a floater role this season. This has allowed her to get to know her teammates deeper.
“I look for Abby to continue to push herself to excel. She is passionate about bowling, and I believe that she will continue to push her team to work hard and achieve big things like the program’s first post-season birth.”
The bowling programs consist of team practices, local leagues, and one-on-one workouts, as well as the opportunity for free bowling at Crest Lanes in Marion, IN.
“The house that we have, that we practice at and is our home, has been really wonderful and super helpful with providing opportunities for us to come out on the lanes,” Shewan said.
Following Shewan’s third-place all-tournament finish at the Nelson Classic Tournament, Coach Karlin saw her growth take off.
“She came back the following week with a drive and fire to continue improving and working on her craft,” Coach Karlin said. “It also led to a larger leadership role and increased communication with her teammates.”
With each team’s athletic team chaplain, the programs will do devotions at the end of practice and when traveling to tournaments.
“We all gather in one of the rooms and do a devotional,” Shewan said. “Encouragement for the next tournament, how to prepare your mental game for it, how to be a better teammate toward others, and really cultivating a community that other teams notice.”
The Wildcats have two regular season Crossroads League tournaments remaining, as well as the Scotty Classic in Jackson, MI, before entering post-season for the Crossroads League Championship.
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