NORFOLK, Va. – Head coach Wilhelmenia Harrison and the Norfolk State bowling program signed a pair of bowlers as part of its 2019 recruiting class, it was announced today. Local products Chanel Staton and Megan Wheat will join the Spartans as freshmen for the 2019-20 season.
 
Staton hails from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, while Wheat will arrive at NSU from Hickory High School, also in Chesapeake.
 
A National Honor Society member, Staton has been a mainstay at the local bowling level. As a sophomore in the AMF Chesapeake Youth League, she averaged 191. She bumped that up to 194 her junior year in the Western Branch AMF Youth League, with a high game of 279 while earning the league's MVP award. Her senior year, she averaged 175 in the Challenge League and 188 in the Standard League at Western Branch AMF, as well as 177 and 191, respectively, in the Challenge and Standard divisions of the Tidewater Team Travel League.
 
Staton has competed at the national level as well, including the 2017 Teen Masters Championships following her sophomore year of high school. She averaged nearly 175 at the 2018 Junior Gold Championships in Dallas in the Girls' U20 division, and she qualified for the 2019 and '18 Virginia Pepsi State Championships in the Girls' U20 division. Staton has also competed at the 51^st annual USBC State Championships in 2016, the Tidewater USBC Youth Championships and the AAU Junior Olympic National Championships in the past.
 
Wheat did not start bowling until her freshman year of high school. By her sophomore year, she was averaging 182 in her travel league. The summer after her junior year, she averaged 181 in her travel league after averaging 173 in the fall league. She also averaged at least 170 in various leagues during her senior season, including a high game of 265 and a high series of 730.
 
She too has competed at the national level, including at the 2018 Junior Gold Championships in Dallas. She averaged nearly 165 at that tournament after also competing at the 2017 Junior Gold Championships in Cleveland. Like Staton, Wheat has also participated in the Tidewater Team Travel League during her high school days.
 
NSU bowling finished 14-50 this season and only lost senior Alexa Rodriguez off the end-of-year squad.