Aug. 2, 2011
NORFOLK, Va./SEATTLE - As the saying goes, "success is an inconvenience," but for UMES' Kristina Frahm (Oswego, Ill.); it has been anything but. The three-time National Champion in women's collegiate bowling added to her already lengthy resume recently by picking up the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's (MEAC) Woman of the Year Award, presented last Friday in conjunction with the annual Football Press Luncheon. She then followed that up on Monday by being named the Professional Bowler Association's (PBA) 2011 Billy Welu Scholarship winner.
"It has been amazing," said Frahm in her acceptance speech for the MEAC award at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel. "Thank you so much to everyone who played a part in the history our team made this year. The MEAC, the faculty and staff at UMES, my coaches and my teammates were all instrumental in helping me accomplish the goals I set for myself while in college."
The Woman of the Year Award, selected annually by the MEAC Senior Woman Administrators, celebrates the achievements of female senior student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics, service and leadership. Frahm will represent the MEAC as its nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during an awards dinner on Sunday, October 16 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Frahm followed that up on Monday by being the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the PBA. The Billy Welu Scholarship is awarded annually in honor of the PBA Charter Member who won the BPAA All Star in 1959before winning the 1964 and '65 USBC Masters events. Welu was PBA President for two years, a member of the PBA Tournament Committee for eight years and served for 16 years on the Executive Board. He was a color analyst on early PBA Tour telecasts and was inducted into both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame in 1975.
"This sport has given so much to me. I fell in love with it when my dad first took me bowling at age six. Once I got to high school, I realized I could make bowling something more in my life than just a leisure activity," she said in an interview with the PBA.
Frahm, took it one step further this summer, competing professionally for the first time and placing in the money in the U.S. Women's Open.
In the same interview Frahm told the PBA, "Bowling is a passion of mine and I would love to continue competing at a higher level. The Welu Scholarship will help finance my tuition so I can focus more on bowling tournaments. If the women's tour comes back it would be a dream of mine to be part of that."
She will start at nearby Salisbury University in the fall in pursuit of her MBA. Her goal is to turn her accounting degree from UMES into a job as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Her head coach during her time at UMES, Sharon Brummell, could not be prouder, "In the five years I have known Kristina, I have heard only positive comments about her. That speaks volumes to the kind of young woman she s and kind of future she has in front of her."
Frahm led UMES to two national bowling titles in 2011. The Lady Hawks captured their second National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bowling championship in four years with a 4-2 win over Vanderbilt University. They followed that performance with a 2-1 win over Lindenwood University to win the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championship (ITC) title. She was also part of the 2008 NCAA Championship team as a freshman.
Frahm, the 2011 NCAA Bowling Championship Most Valuable Performer, was an NTCA All-America selection four times. She earned All-MEAC accolades four times and averaged a 208.67 during her senior season. Off the lanes, Frahm served as a MEAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative and held leadership positions in the NCAA Career in Sports Forum conference, NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership conference, Step-Up Leadership Academy, Hawk Leadership Academy and as a panelist of ESPN's Kevin Blackistone's Black History round table symposium. She volunteered as a youth group coach and also donated her time for projects such as Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, and the Federal Reserve Challenge.
Frahm graduated in May with a 3.95 GPA and garnered the Richard A. Bernstein Award, the highest academic honor given by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She was also named an All-Academic First Team selection by the National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA) and was a Capital One College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American, the first in school history. In addition, Frahm was the bowling recipient of the 2011 NCAA Elite 88 Award. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 88 championships.
Portions of this release appear compliments of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Professional Bowler Association.
