SAN ANTONIO, Tex. – People sometimes ask why academic achievement is "so important" in selecting the winner of the Columbia 300/John Jowdy Scholarship each year.
A lot of skeptics think the committee puts too much emphasis on classroom achievement and not enough on bowling accomplishments. The committee’s formula has been to place 60 percent emphasis on academic excellence and 40 percent on bowling efficiency.
Well, Mike Mullin silenced the critics one day after the Columbia 300/John Jowdy Scholarship Committee met last month in Reno, Nevada.
Mullin, an ABC entry, finished ahead of 621 rivals and wound up fourth following the CBS telecast of the $250,000 American Bowling Congress Masters tournament at the National Bowling Stadium.
Mullin, a 1996 graduate of St. John’s University with a B.S. in communications, had nosed out current PWBA star Liz Johnson for the Jowdy Scholarship honor in 1992.
"It’s never easy picking the winner considering all the outstanding entries we receive," said Roger Vessell, vice president of sales and marketing for Columbia 300.
Gaining the most attention after the 1998 voting was Timothy Frank from Grayslake Community High School in Grayslake, Ill.
Frank, who graduated fifth in a class of 294, joins this elite list of previous winners:
· 1990 – David Nagelhout, New Jersey.
· 1991 – Laura Ross, New Jersey.
· 1992 – Michael Mullin, New York.
· 1993 – Marjorie Tassone, Arizona.
· 1994 – Mark Martin, Oregon.
· 1995 – Kevin Winters, Wasington.
· 1996 – Nicholas Hoagland, Ohio.
· 1997 – Michael Pretko, Michigan.
"It was difficult to select a winner from among all the great applications," said Jowdy (left), "but Timothy Frank is an excellent choice. He excelled in the classroom and on the bowling lanes."
As a bowler, Frank averaged 202, 209, and 208 the past three seasons. He turned in a pair of 299 games and came through with high sets of 776, 774, 736, 725, and 723. He also excelled in tournament competition.
But it was outside of bowling where Frank, who had composed three musical pieces by age 9, really starred.
He did it all, from excelling in math to Spanish to spelling to chemistry to physics. He even found time to organize a book drive to benefit underprivileged children to working with American Cancer Society and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Possibly more important he was a representative for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
Frank, who was born and learned to bowl in San Antonio, has one hobby that would make him a favorite on the PBA Tour: he likes to golf and was captain of his school’s golf team and earned all-conference honors his senior year.
Completing the All-Jowdy Scholarship team were Michael Mankowski of Evergreen Park, Ill., Tiffany Epling of Machesney Park, Ill., James Hearl from Spring Hill, Fla., and Matthew Lampo of Binghamton, N.Y., the son of two-time PBA champion Gus Lampo.
Columbia 300 will award Frank a $500 scholarship each year that he remains in college, maintains a C+ average, and bowls in either a collegiate, ABC, or YABA league each year.
"It’s important that Frank remain active in bowling and maintain his grade average," Jowdy said. "Bowlers who excel in the high school classroom and attend college are the future of this game."
The other four bowlers honored—Lampo, Mankowski, Hearl, and Epling—will receive a miniature Columbia 300 bowling ball personally engraved with their names.
Among the 116 entries received this year was one from England. Last year, the committee received an entry from South Korea, showing that the Columbia 300/Jowdy Scholarship is gaining international attention.
"On behalf of Columbia, I would like to thank the applicants," reiterated Mike Albritton, president of Columbia 300 Inc. "More than 1,000 graduating high school bowlers have mailed us their resumes over the past nine years. We are looking forward to the 10th anniversary of the John Jowdy Scholarship in 1999."
The late Roger Zeller, founder of Columbia, established the John Jowdy Scholarship Fund after Jowdy—longtime valuable Columbia employee and noted pro bowler instructor—was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1988.
Jowdy Scholarship committee members included Jowdy, Vessell, and bowling writers Joe Lyou of Los Angeles and Dick Evans of Miami.
Anyone interested in receiving entry blanks for the John Jowdy Scholarship should write to Roger Vessell at P.O. Box 13430, San Antonio, TX 78213 or call 210/344-9211.