Smolen and Fizer earns All-Tournament Team Honors; Crimson Wave finish 5th at Hoosier Classic
The CCSJ women's bowling team placed 5th at the 2026 57th Annual Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic on Sunday, February 15 at the Royal Pin - Western bowling alley.
Indianapolis, IN – The Calumet College of St. Joseph women's bowling team competed in the 2026 57th Annual Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic on both Saturday, February 14 and Sunday, February 15 at the Royal Pin – Western bowling alley.
CCSJ finished the weekend in 5th place, its last Tier 1 event in the season, amongst a pool consisting of 65 different teams.
The Crimson Wave began the Hoosier Classic playing regular team games starting at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. After game 1, CCSJ's score wasn't even in the top 20. After an excellent performance in game 2, they rose 17 spots in the standings, and at the moment, had the third best score. After the final game was complete for Day 1, the Wave were atop the standings with a total pin count of 5151.
On Sunday, 15 baker games were played to determine the top 8 teams advancing to match play. By the end of the afternoon, CCSJ was the fourth seed heading into match play, finishing with a qualifying total pin count of 7829.
As the No. 4-seed, the Crimson Wave faced No. 5-seed Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in the first round. The Wave went on to lose to SCAD-Savannah 2-1 and ultimately finished 5th at the Hoosier Classic.
Individually, over 800 women bowlers competed in the Hoosier Classic and both junior Samantha Smolen and sophomore Shawna Fizer were recognized as all-tournament team members. Smolen finished 4th overall with an individual total of 1109, an average tournament score of 221.8. Fizer was right behind Smolen at 5th overall with an individual total of 1106, which is an average tournament score of 221.2.
Last year, CCSJ finished 3rd at the Hoosier Classic, its highest finish in program history at that event. This year still finishing in the top-5 with two bowlers on the all-tournament team, made head women's bowling coach Linda Olszewski mentally and physically prepared for what's to come.
"I couldn't have been happier with our teamwork and mental preparedness for this event as every team member contributed to our success," Olszewski said. "The girls competed on three different lane patterns during the two day tournament. It was tough mentally and physically and I thought they excelled at both. It was the last regular tournament of the season, so now we will be focusing on post season."
Olszewski also said it was such a joy seeing CCSJ President Dr. Amy McCormick come cheer their team on while bowling in the final Indiana event this season.
Up Next
CCSJ will now prepare for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles and Team Sectional beginning on Friday, March 13.