Jazreel Tan will probably leave Wichita State as the most decorated women’s bowler in program history. 

The senior is the two-time reigning Collegiate Bowler of the Year and has been named an All-American all three years at WSU. She is also a front-runner for both honors this year as well. 

But that’s not what she is after this year. Tan wants to finish her collegiate career with the only thing she doesn’t already have—a team national championship. 

“I’m hoping for the best. I know we practiced hard for the past year and we’ve worked really, really hard. We are a talented bunch of bowlers,” Tan said. “We haven’t won a national title in the last three years so it’s something I really hope to change.”

The women’s team has won nine Intercollegiate Bowling Championships since the program started in 1975, including an especially strong run that included titles in 2005, 2007 and 2009. 

But with finishes of third, ninth and fifth the last three years, this experienced group led by Tan hopes to end the season where they currently sit—as the top team in the country. 

“It seems strange to think we haven’t won for three years. Obviously, because of the success we’ve had over the years, we get that expectation,” women’s bowling coach Mark Lewis said. “Jazreel has had just an unbelievable run here. This is something she is driving pretty hard for.”

Tan, from Singapore, is one of three key international players the women’s team is relying on to get them a 10th championship. 

Tannya Roumimper, a junior from Indonesia, has arguably had a better season than Tan and is one of the favorites to be named the Collegiate Bowler of the Year. Dasha Kovalova, a freshman from Russia, has been an instant star on an already star-studded team. 

Roumimper and Tan first met in 2004 on the Asian bowling circuit. It wasn’t until they united in Wichita that they found a friendship that has helped both excel on the lanes. 

“We weren’t exactly friends before she came here, but we got a lot closer when she did get here,” Tan said. “We have helped each other so much because we know each other’s game so well and I think it has benefited the team a lot.”

Singapore and Indonesia don’t exactly have identical cultures or languages. But all the international bowlers agree that the sport gets them the perfect alley to escape any of those cultural barriers. 

“The boundary just dropped,” Roumimper said of her relationship with Tan when she arrived in Wichtia. “ Our friendship did really become stronger.”

When the three bowlers join the rest of their team in Lincoln, Neb., today for the Intercollegiate Team Championships, there is little doubt that WSU will be the team everyone is chasing. 

“We aren’t unbeatable, but we are hard to beat if we keep our heads and play together as a group. I wouldn’t want to try and beat these guys,” Lewis said. “It’s who gets on a roll, who gets hot at the right time.”

The team championships aren’t the only place the three WSU women are hoping to make a splash. On Saturday, the threesome will join Nebraska’s Kristina Mickelson in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Singles Championship. 

Live stats and more info can be found at www.bowl.com. 

“Being able to bowl for one university, to fight for one name, is just amazing. You cannot have that outside of college bowling,” Roumimper said. “But at the end of the week, the national title is what really matters.”