Name: Shannon Walsh

Grade: Senior

Sport(s) participating in: Bowling

Why she won: She has been a leader all year for the girls bowling team. She has been helpful and welcoming with several of the new players. At the IHSA Regional in Elgin this past weekend, she bowled a 967, allowing her to advance to the sectional at Rockford.

Question: How long have you been bowling?

Answer: Besides bowling for fun from time to time, I’ve been bowling as a sport since Freshman year.

Question: What is your training like (How many days a week for how many hours)?

Answer: We practiced Monday-Friday from around 3:15 to 4:45. We just get to bowl three games or work on certain skills.

Question: Why do you bowl?

Answer:   Bowling is just fun. You meet so many nice people and make friendships that are effortless. It’s also one of the only sports where you can eat while you’re competing.

Question: How does it feel when you are preparing for a meet?

Answer:  It really depends on the school. If the school’s team is usually competitive or it’s a big tournament, there are some nerves about bowling well. If the school hasn’t been good in the past, it’s pretty relaxed and easygoing.

Question: What is your biggest accomplishment in your sport?

Answer:  As cheesy as it sounds, my biggest accomplishment was just getting better. I was not very good my freshman year, but I actually learned how to hook the ball and bowl correctly. It makes a huge difference when you know what you’re supposed to be doing.

Question: What is your biggest challenge?

Answer: My biggest challenge was definitely just staying focused. Bowling is all about your mental game and if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, you’re going to miss your mark and not be as successful.

Question: What is the best advice you have ever received?

Answer: Bowling wise or in general? Either way, it would probably be to trust myself and believe that I can do whatever I set my mind to. It’s such simple advice, but it’s hard to follow sometimes.

Question: Who is your role model/hero?

Answer:  One of my biggest role models is probably my brother, Patrick. He’s honestly one of the best people that I know. He’s smart, dedicated, honest, and funny. If I was striving to have the character and mentality of someone else, it would be him. He looks out for the people he loves and I don’t think there’s a better quality than that.

Question: Were you surprised that you won athlete of the week? Why?

Answer: Sort of, yeah. Not many people pay attention to bowling or care about it. I don’t say that in a mean way- it’s just that most people don’t understand bowling and a lot of people don’t even know we have a team.

Question: Do you bowl with a league? If so, which league? If not, do you plan on it in the future?

Answer:  I do not. A few girls on the team do, though! I would love to, but I just don’t have the extra time to do it. I’ll definitely try it as an intramural sport in college though!

Question: Do you have your own ball for bowling? If so, what is on it?

Answer:  Yes, I do! I actually have two. The one I use the most is a purple, marble colored ball. It’s a limited edition ball, so not many people have it. It’s 15 pounds and hooks a lot. The other ball is orange and also 15 pounds, but I don’t use it much.

“Fun fact, I found out that certain “Storm” (brand)  balls have scents put into the ball and each ball has a different smell,” said Walsh. “A girl I know has one that smells like fruit loops and another one that smells like evergreen. How cool is that?!”