NORFOLK, Va. - After an uncharacteristic season last year that saw the Spartans fall down the MEAC standings, the Norfolk State bowling team will try to rebound in 2019-20 with much of the same team back. A healthier Spartan team, coupled with a few new players, will hopefully lead to a resurgence this upcoming season.
 
NSU starts its upcoming campaign this weekend at the Virginia Union Invitational, the first of two meets before the end of the fall semester.
 
The team enters the season with seven bowlers, six of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. They will look to lead a team that went 14-50 last year, 5-13 in the MEAC, back to the conference tournament and back to its winning ways. Last year marked the first losing season in 10 years. After finishing 10^th last season in the league, they will aim to move up this year. The top eight teams advance to the MEAC Championship at the AMF Lanes in Chesapeake in March.
 
The Spartans could never get going last year after having a pair of players not compete right away due to injury, followed by two other players leaving the team later in the season. This year, therefore, the seniority on the team belongs to junior McKayla Lang. She missed time due to injury before averaging 174.4 toward the end of the year. With NSU in need of a solid anchor, that one bowler who can lift a team, will Lang take over that role?
 
Sophomore Crystal Brewer is also aiming for that top spot. The only bowler who competed throughout the entire season, she will attempt to build off a freshman campaign that saw her average 170.7 while appearing in every game, both traditional and Baker. She closed the season strong, and with NSU lacking experience, Brewer can begin to take on a bigger leadership role as well as she aims for the anchor spot.
 
Two of her classmates are also back in Trinity Gray and Dieonjonai Haupt. Like Lang, Gray also missed time in the fall. NSU's schedule only allowed her to compete in 13 traditional games in the spring, where she averaged 152.0. And like Brewer, Gray had her best showing in the last tournament of the season. A healthier Gray is looking for some redemption after a strong high school career brought her to Coastal Virginia.
 
Haupt joined the team as a walk-on for the spring semester. She bowled in 42 games altogether and will compete for the final spot in the lineup.
 
A pair of scholarship freshmen could make names for themselves with those spots in the lineup open. Both have shown some flashes in the preseason, and the Spartans will need that skill as they get settled in the early part of the year. Following the VU tournament, NSU competes in the first of two MEAC meets from Nov. 8-10 that will ultimately decide who advances to the conference tournament.
 
Chanel Staton is one of those names to look out for. She posted averages from the high 170s into the low 190s in various local leagues during her high school career. She has also competed both at the state level and the national level, including the Junior Gold Championships. As with all freshmen, she will need to adjust to how the game is played and coached at the collegiate level but is capable of making an impact right away.
 
Megan Wheat is the second of two local bowlers trying to make an impression in their rookie season. More of a late bloomer, Wheat did not start bowling until she reached high school. She averaged mostly in the 170s in various local leagues during her high school career, while also reaching into the low 180s despite her late start to the game. Her continued ascent in the game could help the Spartans greatly this year.
 
NSU's last newcomer is freshman walk-on Jasmin Hudson. Hailing from Michigan, she too has made big jumps as her bowling career has progressed, reaching into the 180s near the end of her high school days. With NSU in need of competition within the team, Hudson has a chance to push for time in the lineup as well.
 
The Spartans get going with these first two tournaments, and they return to action in mid-January with the start of the spring semester. They will compete in five tournaments in the spring before the start of the MEAC Championship from March 20-22. In an 11-team league that features five teams ranked in the preseason top 25, eight will advance to the tournament.