Mount Mercy adds bowling for 2011-12, names Healy head coach

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Mount Mercy Director of Athletics Scot Reisinger announced today that the University will add men's and women's bowling beginning in the fall of 2011, and that Glenn Healy will be the head coach for both programs.

Bowling is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and it will bring Mount Mercy's total number of intercollegiate sports to 15. Men's and women's bowling are the first programs added at the University since women's soccer in 1999, and Mount Mercy becomes the seventh school in the Midwest Collegiate Conference to offer the sport.

"The addition of bowling to Mount Mercy's athletic department will give students an additional athletic experience that they did not have before," said Reisinger. "We believe that participating in athletics is one of the ways that students gain valuable life lessons at Mount Mercy, and the ability to expand that possibility is exciting."

Healy, a 1990 graduate of Mount Mercy with a B.B.A. in management and marketing, has been a youth bowling coach in the Cedar Rapids area for more than 20 years, and has also been the assistant boys' and girls' bowling coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School since 2007. The J-Hawk boys' team has finished in the top five at the state tournament three times, and five of his high school bowlers are currently bowling at the collegiate level.

"Glenn brings a wealth of bowling knowledge to the University," Reisinger said. "His connection to the Iowa and Midwest bowling communities, along with his understanding of Mount Mercy, will give him an opportunity to recruit quality student-athletes."

"I am ecstatic about the opportunity to be part of the first men's and women's bowling teams at Mount Mercy," said Healy, who starts his appointment at Mount Mercy on Nov. 29. "I look forward to recruiting exceptionally talented student-athletes. I expect that we will be a force to be reckoned with in collegiate bowling and I can't wait to get started."

According to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the national governing body of collegiate bowling, more than 3,500 student-athletes on 200 college and university bowling teams compete in over 80 certified tournaments each year. Mount Mercy is one of nearly 100 colleges and universities around the country offering bowling scholarships.

Last season, more than 50,000 students took to the lanes at thousands of high schools across the country offering high school bowling competition. Prospective student-athletes who are interested in the Mount Mercy bowling program can complete a questionnaire at mountmercymustangs.com. Additional information about collegiate bowling can be found at the USBC Web site at www.bowl.com.