Finding Success In Bowling, Comes Naturally To This Arizona Southeast Valley Bowler.
Kalyn Washburn's Resume Includes Five Perfect Games, And Two AZ State Women's Ttiles.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg
Managing Editor
The Tenpinexpress.Com
Director Mesa Metro Association
Tucson - - - According to the Wordnet Dictionary, the word talent means: A person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity.
However, the Southeast Valley bowling community of Arizona uses a more simplified definition when it comes to describing the word talent - Kalyn Washburn.
If you have ever had a chance to watch this right-hander bowl in an Arizona State Women's Tournament, or in a league in the Southeast Valley, she has been the best kept secret when it comes to women's bowling. That is, of course, until now.
She got a late start in the game, and didn't take up bowling until she was 16. But, thanks to an older brother, Matt, who got her a job at a bowling center (Golden Pin Lanes), she has been hooked on the game ever since.
And, you would have never known she got a late start in the game, until you have watched her roll a couple of balls.
"I started to get involved in the game of bowling, because my brother worked at a bowling center, and he got me a job there on my 16th birthday." explained Kalyn,on how she got interested in the game. "I was allowed to bowl five free games a day,so I took advantage of it. I had been watching my dad (Scott), do it for years, so it was a pretty easy game for me to pick up."
The first league Kalyn bowled in, was the traveling Tucson Junior Classic League. She had the most improved average at the end of that season with a 177.
After attending the University of Nebraska the following year, she bowled in a junior league in Lincoln, NE., after being red shirted as a freshman. She posted a 207 average. During her freshman year, she also shot her first 700 series, a (782), and was named the Nebraska Junior Bowler of the Year.
"I am a little conflicted on this response. I would have like to take better advantage of earning scholarship money, and the great competition that junior bowling provides. I encourage juniors to get involved as early as possible for those reasons," said Kalyn, when asked if she had the chance to do it all over again, would she havestarted to bowl sooner. "However, I really enjoyed the other sports I played, and would not have traded those experiences for the world.
"I also think that since bowling was a new experience, it is still fresh for me when I know a lot of junior bowlers who get burnt out at an earlier age," she added. "Plus,I have to attribute my ability to pick up bowling quickly, and my enthusiasm for team play to my wide range of experience in other team sports."
Kalyn graduated from Marana Mt. View High School in Tucson in 2005, and she played several team sports including Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, and Soccer for the Dynamo Soccer Club while in high school.
She didn't bowl in leagues for a few seasons following her freshman year at Nebraska, because she was transferring to Delaware State University to bowl forTeam USA Coach (and USBC Hall Of Fame member), Kim Terrell-Kearney. She credits two of her friends while at Nebraska, Eric Vermilia and Amanda Burgoyne, for helping Kalyn land at Delaware State. They both bowled for Kim, who was one of their coaches at Team USA, and Kim recruited Kalyn without ever seeing her bowl. That is how much Kim valued Eric and Amanda's judgement. It turned out to be a win, win situation for everyone.
While at Delaware State, the bowling team went from relative obscurity to the national limelight. They were the East Coast Athletic Conference Champions in 2009, and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament champions in 2009 and 2010. They were invited to the NCAA National Championships in 2009 and 2010 for the first time in school history. They made the final four in 2009, before getting eliminated by Nebraska. They started the 2010 season ranked number one in the country and spent the entire season in the top 10.
While at Nebraska, she was named two times to the Big 12 Commissioners All-Academic Team and was the bowling representative to the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Academically at Delaware State, she was honored as the Scholar-Athlete of the year, and English Student of the Year. She was named two times to the MEAC Commissioners All-Academic Team, and was the bowling representative to the NCAA Student-Athlete Adviisory Committee also while at Delaware State.
While at Delaware State, she would continue to get better at bowling, andcompeted in NCAA tournament play. She graduated from Delaware State in 2010.
Her highest book average following the completion of the 2014-15 season was a 220. And this was accomplished in the Golden Pin Ebonite Elite League at Golden Pin Lanes in Tucson.
"I have never put much importance on book averages. My roots are in tournament bowling, so I tend to focus more on tournament results than league averages," said Kalyn, who placed third in scratch All-Events with a 2,004. And in 25th in doubles with her mother, Melinda, at 1,341. The women's state tournament washeld last year at Brunswick Zone Mesa. "I just try to throw good shots and win games. I really didn't think I would be good in the game of bowling while others were."
If she didn't think she would become good in bowling while others were, she had to notice the climb in her book averages since the end of the 2007 season in Nebraska. At the end of: 2010, it was 208; 2011, 216; 2012, 206; 2013, 229; and 2014, 220.
"I can attribute my success to those who believed I had potential, and fed it," she said, of her success in the game. "Even when I was recruited to go to Nebraska (Kalyn was recruited by Nick Pluhowsky), I tried to talk Coach Straub out of taking me. I told him I wasn't a bowler, and that I played other sports. But, he told me he would teach me to bowl, because I was an athlete."
She currently has five 300 games that she rolled in the Southeast Valley. The first was thrown on January 22, 2012, in the Tucson Metro City Tournament. She bowled one during the 2013-14 season, one during the 2014-15 season, and two this season. She shot an 804 during the Arizona Women's State Tournament Singles event in 2011.
Other members of her family who earned perfection in the game are her dad, who has eight perfect games. With the latest one being bowled earlier this season. And her cousin, Christopher, who has also found perfection three times: September 14, 2010; January 10, 2011; and on April 23, 2012
"Since my mom and dad have been bowling since before I came along, growing up in a bowling center was natural. So, once I decided to start bowling, being in a bowling center was already a comfortable place to be in," said Kalyn, who actually didn't start to get competitive in bowling until 2004. "I bowled and won my first junior state tournament in doubles with my younger brother, Danny.
"And I have bowled nationals with my brother and parents a couple of times. We enjoy being together, so bowling together is definitely a good time," she added. "My family has always supported one another in all aspects, but especially in sports. I wouldn't pin point bowling tournaments as family gatherings, but all of our sporting events."
As someone relatively new to bowling when she got her first job in a center at 16, she says it didn't take her long to pick up on other aspects of the game.
"Learning how to read the lanes did not take long. That was something I picked up from watching my dad bowl, and growing up in a bowling center," she says, about learning other areas of the game. "I put a lot of trust in my drillers after I buy a bowling ball, but I know when things are not fitting right. I tend to prefer working out my thumb holes on my own. My favorite ball of all time is the Game Breaker. I generally prefer even-rolling equipment (symmetric core) that can get me to the pocket."
She does not feel her game is as crisp as it used to be while she was in school. But, this is the motivation she needs to keep getting better in bowling.
"My game is not as crisp as it was in school, mostly because I don't have Kim Terrell-Kearney looking over my shoulder. And I don't have time to practice like I did in school," she says, of where she feels her game is at right now. "But, I see opportunities for improvement and I am looking forward to pursuing a more effective game.
"I think everyone has to work hard to be successful in a sport," she added. "I don't know that there are certain areas I need to work on, but I definitely felt like I had some catching up to do in college to be competitive with those talented women. So, I did have to learn fast and work hard."
Kalyn is also a past Arizona State Women's Doubles champion, having won the event with Bunnie Colwell in 2011. She also won the singles title in 2011 with an 804 scratch series.
One of the teams you will see her bowl with at a women's state tournament include: her mother, Melinda; Bunnie Colwell, and Kyndle Tooke-Farrell. Their team name is Freedom Equity Group.
"I actually don't reference the score book," she says, of the book her father uses to track her progress at tournaments. "But, my dad uses it every time he bowls. And, uses it like a journal to see what had, and had not worked."
But, fathers always know best.
"She might not use it directly, but when I see a trend indicated - by which pins she is leaving, or the quality of the hits - we start discussing adjustment tactics."
Arizona State Women's Bowling News
May 5, 2016