Grace Lehmann is a member of the UW-Whitewater’s women’s bowling team, and she has been excelling in the bowling alley as well as the classroom. Lehmann has a personal high score of 206 in tournament play, and earned academic honors in the 2023-2024 school year.
For Lehmann, this is normal. She has made it a priority to balance both school and bowling, doing schoolwork in the hotel on road trips while utilizing the library when she is on campus.
Lehmann has been bowling since her freshman year of high school, and pursued this sport because of its uniqueness and the fact that she simply had fun bowling. Grace chose to come to Whitewater due to the opportunities that the university offers. Bowling at the NCAA level, compared to at the club level, allows for teams to get funding and better opportunities with tournaments, as well as potentially compete in the NCAA championships that take place in early April.
The bowling team has the opportunity to compete in a lot of tournaments, which means they travel to a lot of different places, especially out of state. Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas are just a few of the states they travel to. That’s not even mentioning the NCAA tournament, where if the team qualifies, they would head to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lehmann’s favorite trip so far has been the trip to Green Bay, as Lehmann is not from Wisconsin and hasn’t had the chance to be in that part of the state. However, her favorite tournament is the Warhawk Classic because a lot of athletes get to compete.
“It’s fun because it’s kind of ours,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann gave her coaches and teammates a lot of credit for her growth. Lehmann’s coaches have given her tips and suggestions to improve her skills, while her teammates help make bowling more fun and enjoyable.
The team chemistry that the bowling team has is near perfect, as they are always communicating with one another. During the school year, the team consistently practices, has different workouts and games, as well as competing in tournaments, all while making sure there’s still time for team-bonding events. Some of the team bonding events include tye-dying shirts at the park, and doing secret Santa and secret valentine events. During the summer, the team stays in touch and sends videos of their performance for constructive criticism and feedback.
One of the specific things that Lehmann has been working on is getting her hand more underneath the bowling ball to increase her revolution rate, which impacts the speed and trajectory of the bowling ball. Lehmann also wants her game to be more consistent, which will allow her to get more opportunities to compete.
Bowling is not just a physical game, it’s a mental game as well. Having a positive mindset is the key to success.
“If you want to be at your best, think your best,” Lehmann said.
With almost anything you do, there are ups and downs. If Lehmann has a bad shot, she pushes it to the back of her mind and moves on to the next one. Lehmann wants to ensure she stays locked in the moment and has a good outing.
When Lehmann is not busy with schoolwork or team practice, she goes to the local bowling alleys and does individual workouts to continue improving her physical and mental game. Going forward, Lehmann has her sights set on making the varsity team.
