Shannon O'Keefe

Shannon O'Keefe (born January 27, 1979) is an American female professional bowler now living in O'Fallon, Illinois, who has competed in the United States and internationally. She is a 13-time member of Team USA (2005–present), six-time World Champion (2007 Singles in Monterey Mexico, 2011 Trios and Team in Hong Kong, 2013 Doubles and All-Events in Las Vegas, 2015 Team Champion), and a four-time champion on the PWBA Tour.[1] Since 2014, she has also been the women's bowling coach at McKendree University.[2]

O'Keefe is a member of the following pro staffs: Brunswick, High 5 Gear, and Ultimate Bowling Products.[1]

Bowling career

O'Keefe began competing on the PWBA Tour in 1998, and was runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award in 1999. The PWBA Tour ceased operations in 2003 but has since been resurrected in 2015, and Shannon was one of several previous PWBA members to re-join the tour.[3]

After giving up her professional status shortly after the original PWBA folded and waiting to regain her amateur status, O'Keefe won the New York State Queens Title (twice) along with three Rochester, New York Queens titles. She earned a spot on Team USA in her first attempt in 2005, and has been a member for the last 13 years. After moving to Texas in 2008, she won the Texas Bluebonnet Queens three times in a four-year span (2011, 2012 and 2014).

Other bowling highlights include a fifth-place finish in the 2007 USBC Queens Tournament, and a runner-up finish in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open. She bowled a 299 on television in the U.S. Open quarterfinals, and at the time tied a record for the most consecutive strikes in a row on television (18 over two games). She finished in fifth place in the 2011 U.S. Women's open, and in third place at the 2012 U.S women's open. O'Keefe has won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in international competition as a member of Team USA. She was an exempt bowler in 2009 in the PBA Women's Series, which was sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). She made the quarterfinals of the 2009 PBA Women's World Championship,[4] which was the first women's World Championship under PBA sanction.

In 2010, against primarily male competitors, O'Keefe won a PBA Regional Tour title at the PBA Southwest Region Del-Mar Lanes Challenge.[1]

O'Keefe was part of Team USA in 2011—the team that went to the WTBA World Women's Championships in Hong Kong and took home gold for the United States in the team event for the first time since 1987.[5]

On August 2, 2015, Shannon won her first PWBA title in the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship, teaming with PBA player Bill O'Neill to take the top prize.[6] In the 2015 U.S. Women's Open, O'Keefe qualified as the #1 seed but had to settle for her second runner-up finish in this tournament, as she was defeated by Liz Johnson in the September 6 final by a single pin, 190–189.[7]

O'Keefe won her first PWBA singles title, and second PWBA title overall, in the Nationwide PWBA Sonoma County Open on May 26, 2016. Qualifying as the #2 seed, she defeated Singapore's New Hui Fen in the semifinal match before besting Kelly Kulick in the finals.[2] Later in the 2016 season, O'Keefe led the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open wire-to-wire (from opening round of qualifying through to the finals) and captured her third PWBA title on June 26.[8] On July 31, 2016, O'Keefe and Bill O'Neill repeated as champions at the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship, giving O'Keefe her fourth PWBA title, and third of the 2016 season.[9]

Other Accomplishments

Prior to her bowling success, O'Keefe was a first team all-American centerfielder in softball, while attending Portland State University. She had a .411 batting average as a freshman, with 15 outfield assists. As a 15-year-old, she was among the final 160 women competing for a spot on the 1996 Team USA Softball Team. O'Keefe was recognized at the Oregon Hayward Awards in 2007 as a finalist for "Professional Woman Athlete of the Year".

In her first year as head coach of the McKendree University women's bowling team (2014), Shannon led her team to an 11th-place ranking in NTCA. In 2017, her McKendree Bearcats won both the NCAA Women's Bowling Championships and the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Shannon O’Keefe PWBA Player Profile". pwba.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Bigham, Terry (June 14, 2016). "O’Keefe captures Nationwide PWBA Sonoma County Open title". bowl.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Women’s pro tour to re-launch with USBC, BPAA commitment". United States Bowling Congress. October 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ Women's World Championship Round of 8 results at www.pba.com
  5. ↑ U.S. Bowler, October 2011 issue
  6. ↑ "Shannon O’Keefe, Bill O’Neill Dominate Match Play to Win PBA-PWBA XF Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles". pba.com. 2015-08-02. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  7. ↑ Cannizzaro, Matt (September 6, 2015). "Liz Johnson wins 2015 U.S. Women's Open". bowl.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ "O’KEEFE CAPTURES THIRD TITLE AT PEPSI PWBA LINCOLN OPEN". pwba.com. July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ Schneider, Jerry (2016-07-31). "Shannon Shannon O’Keefe, Bill O’Neill Successfully Defend Storm PBA/PWBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Title". pba.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  10. ↑ Smith, Aaron (2017-05-15). "MCKENDREE WOMEN WIN FIRST INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS TITLE". bowl.com. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
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