By Neal Johnson

The UW-Whitewater women’s bowling team has set high goals for the 2012-2013 season, after finishing 16th in the nation last season, according to the USBC website.

The ’Hawks have returning stars in juniors Ashley Bell and Katie Zwiefelhofer and sophomore Dayna Mackie, who are looking to make even more of an impact this season.

“For this season, the individual goals I have are to improve the versatility in my game,” Mackie said.  “This season, we have an extremely talented team, and we have already done an outstanding job showing all the other schools that we mean business.”

The ‘Hawks recently finished an early season competition, finishing fourth in a ten-team field at the Crusader Classic, hosted by Valparaiso University.

Bell thinks early season tournaments will help her team reach its goal of getting to Nationals.

“In the short run, I expect the team to use every day as a building block to get better and that what we do now can always be improved,” Bell said. “I believe in us, and we will need to use each practice and tournament as a stepping stool to make it to Nationals.”

Last season’s stud, Zwiefelhofer, said she is using the accomplishments of herself and the team from last season as motivational fuel for the upcoming year.

“Individually, I would love to have a year like I have had the last two years,” Zweifelhofer said. “Making it to nationals as a freshman and sophomore and taking third on national television, bowling against the top women collegiate bowlers in the nation was the best experience.”

The ’Hawks believe their upcoming tournament, the Track Kat Clash, is going to provide good experience for everyone on the team.

“I believe that it is going to give us a lot of insight on all the other teams and allow us to see exactly where we sit compared to them in the nation,” Mackie said. “Texas will definitely be a nerve-wracking time for all of us but a very exciting and memorable one at that.”

The ‘Hawks will travel to Huntsville, Texas to compete at the Track Kat Clash tournament Friday, Nov. 30 through Sunday, Dec. 2.