Sachem Teen Named To USA Bowling Team In Under-17 Division

LAKE RONKONKOMA, NY — A talented Sachem High School North student has been named to the USA under 17 bowling team. Amanda Naujokas, who will be a senior in the fall, told Patch on Monday she was "shocked" to learn she made the team on Saturday. The Lake Ronkonkoma teen found out she'd earned a spot on the prestigious team shortly after losing her first match at the 2019 Junior Gold Championships, held just outside Detroit.

After winning three matches to get to the televised under 17 girls finals, Naujokas, the 2015 under 12 girls champion, held the lead against her North Carolina opponent Caroline Thesier. Despite leaving an unusual 7-8-10 split in the fourth, Naujokas posted four consecutive strikes beginning in the sixth frame. She fell short in a 219-197 defeat and Thesier eventually claimed the title.

But even in defeat, a coach for the national team walked up to her and delivered good news.

"I was shocked because I didn't think I made [the team]," said Naujokas. "And then he was like 'You made it because you qualified second."

Naujokas has been bowling since she was just 4 years old. Her brother used to play little league baseball and the coach's sister owned a bowling alley. When he got invited to go bowling, she got to tag along. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Within a few years, it became evident she had a gift for bowling. At about 8 years old she began taking lessons, and now she trains five or six times a week, often at Coram Country Lanes on Middle Country Road. She has also traveled to Chicago a few times to train and recently returned from a weekslong training session there.

While she isn't certain what the under 17 team has in store for her — it's a new team — she has played on similar USA teams in the past. For those teams, she and her teammates flew to Texas and played against kids from other countries. In those tournaments, she earned quite a few medals.

"I won six gold medals and a silver medal" at the Bowling Tournaments of The Americas, she said.

Naujokas is already getting recruited to play in college. She has until December to decide where to attend, but she already knows she wants to teach kids.

Over the weekend, Sachem’s Amanda Naujokas was named to the USA U17 Bowling team. Below she is pictured accepting congratulations from the President of the United States Bowling Congress. Congrats Amanda! We are so proud! #WeAreSachem @SachemSchools @SachemAD pic.twitter.com/OhREszvscb
— Coach Meahan (@SachemBowling) July 22, 2019