The Sacred Heart women’s bowling team is entering a new season with a new challenge. They will be joining one of the top conferences in the country, the USA Conference, where they will be an affiliate member before the start of the 2025-2026 season.
The Pioneers have a well-known history in college women’s bowling, with a record six Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships and appearing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament nine times.
“I think one of the big goals in everyone’s mind is to make it to the NCAA regionals, whether by winning Conference USA or by having a regular season that earns us an at-large,” said senior Megan Prettyman.
The team went 71-36 last season, beating over ten ranked teams in the process.
Head coach Becky Kregling has led the team since 1993, which includes fifteen United States Bowling Congress (USBC) National Championship Tournaments, six NEC Coach of the Year awards, and two Intercollegiate Bowling Conference Coach of the Year awards.
“Coach Kregling has been the driving force in preparing us,” said junior Karleigh LeMond. “She has built a challenging but winnable schedule and puts incredible time and effort into making sure our program succeeds while still being fun.”
Sacred Heart is coming off an outstanding season with a National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) ranking of 12th, which came second in all independent programs.
The team came just short of reaching the NCAA tournament with an at large bid but went to the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Las Vegas, where they played teams from all over the country.
“We definitely want to replicate the mindset we were able to maintain, especially in the beginning of last season,” said Prettyman. “If we’re able to have the chemistry that this team has had the past few years and stay in the moment, I expect all of the hard work we have put in will show.”
Along with the SHU bowling team, Nebraska and Wright State are two other teams joining the conference. Both teams finished in the top 25 in the country last season (Nebraska 3rd, Wright State 21st) and were added to a gold standard Division 1 women’s bowling conference.
“I am especially excited to face Nebraska,” said LeMond. “We have crossed paths with them at some tournaments in the past, but we rarely face them head-to-head. Since they have also joined Conference USA, we will definitely be seeing more of them and hopefully competing against them directly.”
To help with preparing for the season, the team held a fundraiser called Bike and Bowl, where each team member bowls thirty strikes and bikes ten miles. They raised funds for equipment as well as tickets for Disney World, where they will bowl in a tournament next month.
“It brings us together early in the semester and helps the new members feel part of the team. It helps everyone to focus on the fact that we are all one team,” said LeMond.
After the fundraiser, the team will use the money raised and head to Orlando to kick off the season with a tournament.
bowling joining Conference USA posted to the team’s
Instagram.
Source: Instagram, @sacredheartbowl
“We’re prepping for that one just like we do every other tournament; everyone is working to improve their own game,” said Prettyman.
Athletic Communications contributed to this article.
