Danielle McEwan

Danielle McEwan (born September 1, 1991) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Stony Point, New York. She currently competes on the PWBA Tour and in some events on the PBA Tour. She has been a member of Junior Team USA, and is currently a member of Team USA.

Danielle McEwan
Born (1991-09-01) September 1, 1991[1]
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Bowling Information
AffiliationPWBA, PBA
Dominant handRight
Wins5 PWBA Tour (2 majors)
SponsorsStorm, Turbo, KT Tape, High 5 Gear
Personal blogfacebook.com/Danielle-McEwan-448468321945327/

McEwan received national-level NCAA accolades during her college years, and joined Team USA beginning in 2012. Since the rebirth of the PWBA Tour in 2015, McEwan has won five titles, including major wins at the 2015 Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship and 2019 U.S. Women's Open. She is one of two players (with Shannon O'Keefe) to have captured at least one PWBA title in every season since the 2015 rebirth. She is also a two-time winner of the World Bowling Tour (WBT) Women's Finals.

McEwan is currently a member of the Storm, Turbo Grips, High 5 bowling gear and KT tape pro staffs.[2]

Early life and amateur career

In high school, McEwan chose bowling over tennis as her preferred sport.[3]

In her freshman year at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), McEwan was named MVP of the NCAA National Championships as her team won the title.[4] McEwan was named FDU Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013,[1][5] and NCAA All American (2011–2013),[1][6] receiving the Professional Bowlers Association’s 2012 Billy Welu Scholarship.[5] She was also named Northeast Conference Bowler of the Year (2012)[5] and NCAA Player of the Year (2012 and 2013).[1][6]

Through her junior year, McEwan had maintained a 3.5 grade point average while majoring in psychology.[5]

McEwan has competed for Team USA for six years, beginning in 2012.[1][7]

Professional bowling career

McEwan was one of the first beneficiaries of the 2015 re-launch of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA).[3] On September 13, 2015, shortly after her 24th birthday,[7][8] McEwan won the 2015 Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship, considered her first major title.[1][9] At that championship, which concluded the first full season of women’s professional bowling since 2003,[7] McEwan ranked fourth for 2015 PWBA Player of the Year.[9]

On October 23, 2015, McEwan became the ninth woman to win a Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) regional title (the South Point PBA West Challenge held in Las Vegas, NV), qualifying her to compete in the (Jan-Feb) 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions.[7] On October 23-24, 2015, her team "Dead Money" was the upset winner in the PBA Team Challenge.[5] As the leading female bowler in the South Point events and the 2015 U.S. Open, McEwan was invited to participate in the 2016 DHC Japan Invitational tournament, along with 13 male PBA bowlers.[10]

In December 2015, McEwan and teammate Kelly Kulick won the gold medal in the doubles competition at the Women's World Bowling Championship (WBC) in Abu Dhabi,[11] and was on the Team USA team that won the gold medal in the WBC team(-of-five) competition.[12] Individually, McEwan won a bronze medal in the Masters competition.[13]

McEwan was selected for the "Barbasol Motown Muscle" PBA League team, one of two women drafted for the 2016 season.[3] She earned a spot in the three-woman field for the PBA's World Bowling Tour (WBT) Women’s Finals, held in December, 2015.[3] McEwan went on to win the WBT Finals ($20,000 first prize), the event's finalists being chosen and seeded based on PBA International-WBT events over a two-year rolling WBT points competition.[14]

On March 2, 2016, McEwan won the 2016 PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup (Doha, Qatar; $20,000 prize); however, because she accepted the eight handicap pins per game offered to female bowlers, she became ineligible to earn a PBA or World Bowling Tour title.[15]

McEwan captured her second PWBA Tour title at the PWBA Wichita Open on June 26, 2016. Her 823 in match play was the first 800 series by any player since the 2015 re-launch of the PWBA Tour.[16]

On February 26, 2017, McEwan repeated as World Bowling Tour Women's Finals champion, defeating Liz Johnson in the final televised match to cash $20,000.[17] On August 6, 2017, McEwan won her third PWBA Tour title at the Nationwide PWBA Rochester Open.[18]

In the same year, McEwan won a silver medal at The World Games 2017 in Wrocław, Poland.

McEwan was unsuccessful in her bid for a third straight World Bowling Tour Women's Finals championship, falling to top seed Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in the final stepladder match held on November 19, 2017. She rebounded on December 3, 2017, winning the Women's All-Events gold medal at the 2017 World Bowling Championships in Las Vegas.[19]

McEwan won her fourth PWBA title on May 12, 2018 at the PWBA Fountain Valley Open (Fountain Valley, CA). She is one of three players (with Liz Johnson and Shannon O'Keefe) to have won at least one title every season since the re-launch of the PWBA Tour in 2015.[20] She finished runner-up to Shannon O'Keefe for 2018 PWBA Player of the Year honors,[21] also finishing second in championship round appearances (6) and third in Tour average (216.39). McEwan won the PBA International-WBT Thailand tournament on September 28, 2018, topping England's Stuart Williams in a two-game final to win ฿1,000,000 ($31,908 USD). Because McEwan accepted the eight pins per game handicap offered to female competitors, she was not credited with a PBA or WBT title.[22]

On June 23, 2019, McEwan won her fifth PWBA title and second career major at the U.S. Women's Open, defeating top seed Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia in the final match.[23] For a second straight season, McEwan finished runner-up to Shannon O'Keefe for PWBA Player of the Year honors.[24]

Training

In addition to bowling practice and gym work (cardio, foam rolling, stretching, and core), McEwan works on her mental game by working with a sports psychologist and by researching books and articles.[3]

Personal life

From 2013 to 2018, Danielle dated PBA bowler Marshall Kent. The two initially met when both were members of Junior Team USA, but did not officially become a couple until representing Team USA at an event in Bangkok, Thailand.[25] After five years of dating, McEwan and Kent went their separate ways for unspecified personal reasons.

References
  1. "Danielle McEwan / Biography". Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA). October 2015. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
  2. "Danielle McEwan PWBA Player Profile". pwba.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  3. Bigham, Terry (December 29, 2015). "Busy schedule is scary, fun for McEwan". bowl.com. United States Bowling Congress. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016.
  4. Adams, Griffin (August 1, 2016). "With new sponsors and TV deal, reborn women's pro bowling tour growing". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  5. "McEwan earns 2012 Billy Welu Scholarship". United States Bowling Congress (bowl.com). July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.
  6. Thompson, Steve (August 8, 2015). "Kuhlkin sweeps finals to claim first PWBA crown". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015.
  7. Vint, Bill (October 23, 2015). "Danielle McEwan Wins South Point PBA West Challenge, Qualifies for PBA Tournament of Champions". Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
  8. Smith, Aaron (September 13, 2015). "McEwan wins Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship". United States Bowling Congress (bowl.com). Archived from the original on October 18, 2015.
  9. Thompson, Steve (September 15, 2015). "Schauff still rolling; Wood tosses perfect city bowling season's first youth perfect game; McEwan wins PWBA Tour Championship; Liz Johnson takes season honor". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
  10. Vint, Bill (January 7, 2016). "PBA Spare Shots: PBA Stars Head to Tokyo for 2016 DHC Japan Invitational". pba.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  11. "2015 WWC Doubles – Final". World Bowling. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015.
  12. "Results / 2015 WWC Team Final". World Bowling. December 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015.
  13. "Results / 2015 WWC Masters – Semi Final 1". World Bowling. December 13, 2015. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Also: McEwan's PWBA profile.
  14. Schneider, Jerry (February 21, 2016). "Dom Barrett, Danielle McEwan Win World Bowling Tour Finals Championships". pba.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016.
  15. Vint, Bill (March 2, 2016). "Danielle McEwan Wins HH Emir Cup in Qatar". pba.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  16. "McEwan Captures Second Career Title at PWBA Wichita Open". pwba.com. July 5, 2016. Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. (broadcast July 5, 2016)
  17. Vint, Bill (February 26, 2017). "Anthony Simonsen, Danielle McEwan Win World Bowling Tour Men's, Women's Finals". pba.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  18. "McEwan wins 2017 Nationwide PWBA Rochester Open". pwba.com. August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  19. "USA, Malaysia win team titles at 2017 World Bowling Championships". bowl.com. December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  20. "MCEWAN WINS 2018 PWBA FOUNTAIN VALLEY OPEN". pwba.com. May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  21. "STEFANIE JOHNSON WINS 2018 QUBICAAMF PWBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP". August 25, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  22. Vint, Bill (September 28, 2018). "Danielle McEwan Tops England's Stuart Williams in Two Matches to win PBA International-WBT Thailand Title". pba.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  23. "DANIELLE MCEWAN WINS SECOND MAJOR AT 2019 U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN". pwba.com. June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  24. Smith, Aaron (September 10, 2019). "O'KEEFE CAPTURES SECOND CONSECUTIVE PWBA PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD". bowl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  25. "10 Couples Who Found Love on the Lanes". iabowling.com. August 7, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
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