By: Elma Oijens Sjoelin
Photos provided by Anna Warkel
By far one of the most successful athletic programs at McKendree University is the women’s bowling team. Last year, they won the NCAA bowling championship, and with a winning history behind them, the women’s bowling team is now aiming to defend their national title. A history of winning comes with high expectations and a lot of pressure, and when you are number one, others are hungry to knock you off the podium. In fact, on February 10th, the NTCA (National Tenpin Coaches Association) ranked the McKendree women’s bowling program as number one in the nation on their National Coaches Poll.
Although the bowling team is busy managing academics and bowling this time of the year, Anna Warkel, a second-year student who competes for the women’s bowling team, set aside some time to do an interview with The McKendree Review.
Anna Warkel is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and she is majoring in Sports Management and Marketing here at McKendree, and this is her second year bowling for the Bearcats. Warkel practically grew up in a bowling alley, and she has been bowling since she was four years old. Many years of bowling equals many good memories, and when asked about her favorite bowling memory Warkel said, “If you would have asked me last year, I would have said winning [the state championship] individually in high school, but now I have to change [my favorite memory] to winning the national championship last year. That is probably the coolest thing I have ever done.”
Last year, the national championship took place in Columbus, Ohio. In her own words, Warkel said, “Last season really showed you the perspective on how bad you want it. I feel like in high school I felt like I worked hard to try to get everything I want, but looking back I was really lazy, and I didn’t hold myself accountable … Last year taught me everything I needed to know about how much you want it and what you need to do and how to hold yourself accountable to what you want.”
For Warkel and the women’s bowling team, accountability is the key to success. If everyone on the team really wants to earn that national title, holding oneself and one’s teammates accountable is fundamental to winning. Warkel remembered how the team started off well in the fall, but they then had a rough patch. According to Warkel, that was when they started learning about how to hold themselves and their teammates accountable: “We read a book, like a team book that we read altogether, and we got a lot of stuff out of that book. After that, I feel like everything made so much sense for us to make it look so perfect.”
To win, everyone has to buy into that idea and vision. It is simply a team effort, but it is not easy. Not one person can be out of that mentality, everyone has to be on board. Warkel also gave credit to the team’s coach, Shannon O’Keefe: “[Shannon] is probably one of the best coaches in the world. She knows what to do when we lose and how to handle it. She always says it does not matter if you win or lose, but how you show up for each other, and I feel like that mindset helped us a lot last year.”
This year the national championship is held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and as this article is published, the women’s bowling team is preparing to defend their national title. Warkel explained that at the beginning of this season, they had a team meeting and Coach O’Keefe explained to the team that nothing is promised. “She gave us a reality check, she said to us that [other] teams are hungry, and they want to win now. It’s not promised that we can be the same team as last year, because we’re not.” At the end of the day, it comes down to hard work and who wants it the most. Warkel said that part of the preparation is realizing as a team what you need to work on, holding each other accountable, and then work on it.
When asked what she was looking forward to the most this season, Warkel said, “In bowling, there are two national championships that you can try to win, the NCAA nationals and the USBC nationals. If we make both of those, we will be in Las Vegas for two straight weeks, so that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. We would also have three days off during those two weeks, so we would probably do something fun too.”
Being number one in the nation is something a lot of us dream about, but being at the top also comes with a lot of pressure. Warkel explained that their team’s coach has taught them that pressure is a privilege, and as a team, they walk into the bowling alley with confidence because no matter what happens, they are capable of doing anything, which is something they proved to themselves last year. “Us knowing that, I feel like it makes it so easy to just surrender the outcome and focus on the process. Whatever happens, happens, we trust our training, and we know we can [win it all].”
Hopefully, “whatever happens, happens” in Las Vegas in April when the national championships take place. The women’s bowling team remains ranked number one in the nation, and it is a great day to be a Bearcat!
