Feb. 17, 2008
RUSTON - A quick Google search on Toria Miles doesn't turn up a whole lot. A few press releases from latechsports.com on bowling are about all one can find.
But one somewhat outdated link takes you to the page of the Oak Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) Science Club, of which Miles was the treasurer in 2004. Each officer was given a space to write something about themselves.
Miles' bio: "There's nothing interesting about my life. That's why my page is blank."
These days, the junior bowler can't exactly say that. There are plenty of things interesting about Toria Miles.
For one, she's the sports editor of the Louisiana Tech University yearbook, the Lagniappe. She's also part of Tech's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the school's representative on the Western Athletic Conference's SAAC, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and serves as the secretary in the school's journalism office.
Oh, and she's a student-athlete, too. Sound like fun?
"It's tough," Miles said of balancing all her activities with bowling and keeping up with her classwork. "You've got to have time management. But fortunately, I feel like that's something that I have. I write down everything. I live off my planner. But it's fun...I like to stay busy."
If she has one complaint about her schedule at all, it might be that she's not quite busy enough. With the Bulldog Kennel now closed - whose lanes were not regulation anyway - and the nearest regulation, competition-ready bowling alley an hour away in Shreveport, the Lady Techsters' practices have been few and far between.
And Miles is bowling's equivalent of a "gym rat." She just loves to bowl, whether it's competitively or just for practice.
"I want to bowl every day," Miles said. "But when you're bowling once a month, it's hard to stay consistent. It's muscle memory; you have to keep doing it."
She finished her high school bowling days with better than a 200 average. But with Tech's current lack of a practice facility in Ruston, her average has dropped by more than 30 pins. Her final average for the 2007-08 season in individual matches was 163.7 with a high game of 230 on Oct. 20.
"I'm still working on getting my average back up," she said. "Each lane has its own oil pattern. That pattern changes from day to day and even throughout each game. Without being able to practice adjusting, that makes it even harder.
"We (had) a lot of great bowlers this year. Every single one of us is very skilled. The only mistakes we make during a game are things that could be corrected if we practiced. It's missing a 10-pin by one board, things like that. Practice would easily get rid of that."
Despite only being able to practice once every couple of weeks, the Lady Techsters have remained competitive, finishing fourth in their final tournament last weekend in Tallahassee, Fla. And head coach Shawn Jackson says that Miles' leadership has kept the team focused on success.
"Watching her evolve from a freshman to a sophomore was tremendous," Jackson said. "She's a very skilled bowler who could make some difficult shots. But not being able to work on her game consistently made her frustrated. As a sophomore, she got it turned around and has been able to handle things a lot better.
"She has been a blessing to our team. She always keeps a positive outlook, win or lose. She takes the younger players under her wing and helps them to realize that this is an NCAA sport. Yes, we want to have fun, but this is not just fun and games anymore."
And for any professors or students that might be reading, let's reiterate: Bowling is a sanctioned, NCAA-sponsored, varsity sport at Louisiana Tech.
"A lot of the faculty have no idea," Miles laughed. "When we're about to leave on a road trip and we have to get the card signed, they always ask, `Oh, what sport do you play?' Bowling. `Really?' Yep, really.
"But the reaction from students is always great. They want to know more. If we were to host a tournament, there would be a big turnout."
That might be closer than everyone thinks. With new lanes in the Lambright Intramural Center plus a new public bowling alley on the east side of Ruston scheduled for completion in the next several months, the Lady Techsters could go from having no practice facility to having two at their disposal.
And the team could host a tournament very soon.
"Everybody is so excited to have lanes," she said. "We're trying to host a three-day tournament sometime next year and trying to get some of the big-time schools like Nebraska and Vanderbilt down here."
The only bad news will be for the Lagniappe staff and all of her other organizations.
Toria might be just a little too busy - busy trying to get the Lady Techsters into the NCAA Championships, that is.
