RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Missouri—Despite not being selected to the NCAA Women’s Bowling Championship field, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) still had their presence felt Wednesday evening at the annual NCAA Bowling Championship banquet. Junior Thashaina Seraus and senior Mariana Alvarado both earned All-America honors from the National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA). It is the first honor for Seraus, a First-Team selection and the third in the stellar career for Alvarado, who was named a second-team selection.
“I am very happy to see both Thashaina and Mariana recognized for their hard work. I am proud of both of them, they represented our team so well this season and put everything into this program,” said head coach Kayla Bandy.
Seraus (Oranjestad, Aruba), who was clearly one of the best bowlers in the nation this season, ranked second overall in team game average in the country with just under a 211 average. She was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year, a First-Team selection, to the league championship All-Tournament Team and was the MEAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer. She helped the Hawks capture their third consecutive conference title in mid-March.
She was named to five All-Tournament Teams, was MVP of the SFA Jacks Invitational, earned six Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Rookie of the Week honors and three MEAC Bowler of the Week honors. The success in her first year of collegiate bowling is unprecedented, but she still missed out on being named the NTCA Rookie of the Year. That went to Stephanie Schwartz of Stephen F. Austin, also a First-Team All-America honoree.
Seraus however was stellar in most categories this season. Besides being second in the nation in team game average only to NTCA Player of the Year Liz Kuhlkin of Nebraska, who averaged an impressive 219. Seraus was third in Field Differential and third in percentage of field beaten. She was second again in Khulkin top 40 finishes and posted 9 top 25 field finishes, including four top fives and seven top 10s. The only category Seraus didn’t place in the very top of was Baker game average, which she was tenth. However that calculation is considered “unverified” as different coaches often calculate it differently. Earlier this week Seraus was named a finalist for the College Bowler of the Year by the International Bowling Media Association (IBMA), she was the only NCAA bowler to make that list consisting of USBC member schools.
Other first-team honorees were Sarah Lokker of Arkansas State and Robyn Renslow of Vanderbilt.
Alvarado (Leon, Mexico) capped a stellar career with her third All-America selection. She made the second team with a trio from Fairleigh Dickinson, Melanie Hannon, Nicolette Sarin, Liat Vizenfeld and Central Missouri’s Jordan Richard, who was named the DII/DIII layer and Rookie of the Year.
Alvarado finished the season averaging a 207.27. She finished the season tied in team game average at second in the nation on collegebowling.com. Alvarado earned a pair of ECAC Bowler of the Week honors, three MEAC Bowler of the Week accolades, the MVP award at the Kutztown Invitational, and three All-Tournament Team honors (Mid-Winter Classic, Kutztown Invitational, ECAC Championships). Alvarado was also part of the lineup that bowled a perfect 300 Baker game this season, also at Kutztown. It was the second time in her career she reached that feat.
Alvarado was named a First-Team All-MEAC player this season as well as garnering pre-season All-MEAC honors. This season she matched a career high with a 279 game tossed at Kutztown. She helped guide UMES to their third straight MEAC Championship in mid-March and, like Seraus, earned All-MEAC academic honors. She was a finalist for the MEAC Bowler of the Year.
Third team and honorable mention All-America honorees were also announced. Fellow MEAC school North Carolina A&T saw the MEAC Player of the Year Emily Strombeck earn third team honors while teammate Mackenzie Robinson made honorable mention.
Seven of the teams to make the finals were represented on the All-America selections. Top-seed Nebraska had three players earn the honor, while second-seed Fairleigh Dickinson had four players selected. Arkansas State also saw three players honored with Central Missouri having a pair. Stephen F. Austin had three players recognized while Vanderbilt registered Renslow and Sam Houston State saw just Janine Kuwahara earn honorable mention. Wisconsin-Whitewater, the eighth seed, missed out on having any players named All-America. Other schools honored included McKendree, who has a third team honoree in Jodi Gawlik with Valparaiso, LIU Brooklyn and Sacred Heart each earning an honorable mention honoree.
Other awards handed out by the NTCA included Coach of the Year which went to Amber Lemke of Stephen F. Austin.
“It is hard vote on the intangibles,” said Bandy of the voting process. “But that is really what our seniors brought to us. “I personally felt that Tatiana Munoz (Ibague Tolima, Colombia), Valerie Riggin (Vista, Calif.) and Victoria Jones (Baltimore, Md.) all could have been on this list. They contributed so much this season on and off the lanes. It is those intangibles, their work ethic, academics, service, effort, how they represent UMES, those are what means so much to me as their coach. I am very proud of all of them and grateful to them all.”
With UMES not attending a National Championship for the first time in more than a dozen years, the only accolades left are given out at next weekend’s Night of Champions, the banquet before the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships. This is the first time ever that only one team from the East region (Fairleigh Dickinson) made the NCAA Championship field and that a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) hasn’t been among the teams selected.