Michael Coffey Makes TV Finals at Intercollegiate Singles Championship

By Michael Cousins

This week at the Intercollegiate Singles Championship, one of our own, BowlersMart Melbourne customer and part time employee, Michael Coffey, bowling out of Lindenwood University, made his way onto the televised finals, where he will bowl for right to call himself the champion.

This was a long, grueling, and demanding week, according to Coffey, whom I had the privilege of interviewing for this article, but, despite that, he managed to fight his way through a tough field on a very challenging oil condition in order to make another television show – Coffey previously made the Teen Masters finals, where he won the Teen Master’s Championship.

Coffey tells me that this week’s conditions were very flat and shot making was at a premium. “Going into the week, we didn’t know what we’d be bowling on. I knew they’d be hard, but I don’t think anyone expected them to be this flat.”

Coffey says the key to his success this week had to do with keeping his emotions in check and his heart rate down. To accomplish this, Coffey made sure that he stuck to his pre-shot routine time and time again, preparing himself to execute at the highest level possible.

In addition to this, Coffey tells me that staying ahead of the transition was paramount this week. And, in his opinion, he did a pretty good job of doing just that. “I really tried to always be one step ahead of the transition at all times, which allowed me to avoid disastrous splits and made it so I could fill frames.”

Thanks to his prior television experience, Coffey tells me he is prepared and believes that he will have a competitive advantage over his opponents going into the televised finals. “Having prior television experience is sure to help. It doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, but having that experience should allow me to stay in the moment and just bowl,” says Coffey. “I feel good about my chances, but I am bowling some of the very best college bowling has to offer, so really it just comes down to execution and shot making.”

The Men’s Intercollegiate Singles Championships will air on CBS Sports Network on May 9th, at 8:00pm ET, while the Women’s will air May the 2nd at 8:00pm.

We wish all of the bowlers participating in the televised finals good luck! And, Michael, we will be watching and rooting you on!