Harding College has been to bowling in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and the Nat ional Assoc iation of Intercollegiate Athleti cs about what UCLA has been to basketball in the NCAA. For 13 consecutive years the Bison keglers have won the NAIA Distri ct 17 tit le and have participated in the NAIA national bowli ng championships in Kansas City . They have won four NAIA national titl es - in 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1975, under the gu idance of Coach Ed Burt - have placed second two times, th ird two t imes, and fourth three times . Harding is the only member of the AIC ever to win a national title. Other AIC schools have participated in the fina l playoffs in basketball and football but they have fa iled to win the coveted NAIA Championship . Dominating the top four conference places, Harding captured its fourth consecutive AIC title in 1977 and its twelfth conference tit le in the 15 years that bowling has been an AIC sport. The last two rounds, which were bowled at Park Plaza in Litt le Rock, were held in conjunct ion with the NAIA Di stri ct 17 and Area IV roll-offs which the Bisons won for the thirteenth straight year. Kev in Fisher, Charl es Howell , Rick Work, and Bryan Davis were the four top bowlers with season pinfalls of 4,604, . 4,475, 4,460, and 4,444, respect ively . The team rall ied to place third in the nat ional tournament in Kansas City. When this section was sent to the printer, the 1978 team had completed its first round of conference competition with a tremendous record of 3,090 pinfall for an average of 206 per game for the f ive-man team. Coach Burt said, " It's a privilege to be able to work with such a great bunch of guys . They are willing to work and practice and they take pride in what they do. " Burt requires each ·bowler to roll at least three games a day, but many bowl more. Bowling was added to AIC competition for the 1963 season and Harding entered a team the first year with M. E. "Pinky" Berryhill , professor of physical education and former Athletic Director as coach. 184 • Bowting Sparked by the leadership and performance of senior Steve Smith, now on the Harding mathematics faculty , the 1963 team placed second in the AIC and qualified for the trip to Kansas City. The 1964 team placed third in the AIC and did not qualify for the nationals; however, the 1965 team began the current string of 13 consecutive trips to Kansas City under a revised format that qual ifies only eight teams for the national tournament. A member of the 1965 and 1966 teams was Dennis Organ, now on the Harding Engli sh faculty, who received t he 1966 AIC Cli ff Shaw Scholar-Athlete Award . In 1966, Larry Yurcho and Johnny Beck placed second in the nat ional doub les competit ion. During the f irst three years, "I am exceptionally proud of the boys that 1 have had on our bowling teams over the years." [Coach Burt 1 the College rented t ime f rom the White County Lanes east of town for the team. In 1966, when the lanes closed, the College purchased the lanes, changed the name to College Bowl , and employed Joe Stout to manage the Bowl and coach the bowling team which he did for one year. Although the 1967 team placed only fourth in the nationals, freshman Charl es Burt won the nat ional singles title and teamed with Charles Webb to fi ni sh second in the ' doubles competition . During his collegiate career, Burt led Harding to four co nsecutive AIC championships, four consecutive NAIA Di str ict 17 and Area IV titles, and one NAIA national championship, in 1970, when he again won the national singles title. In 1969, he and Webb had again placed second in doub les.• A four-time participant in the nationa l tournament, Bu rt is the only bowler ever to win the NAIA singles title twice. As a senior in 1970, he averaged 202 .1 per game for the 15-game tournament. Spanning four years of national competition , Burt averaged 193.5 in 63 tournament games. On the basis of his outstanding collegiate bowl ing career, he was ind!:'cted into the NAIA Bowling Hall of Fame on April 14, 1977 . He is now a registered pharmacist in Little Rock . Ed Burt, father of Charles, who had managed the Cooper Lanes in Batesvi lle for over seven years, was employed by the College in October of 1967 to manage the College Bowl and to coach the bowl ing team when Stout returned to professional bowling. The Bowl was closed in the fall of 1973 when t he Hammon Student Center was completed and the excellent 12 lanes in the Student Center became operative as the Bison Lanes, serving both the College and the community. Only two members of the 1970 team were back for 1971 , but the Bisons again won the NAIA nat ional title. Dave H.udson and Glenn Hanmer, newcomers to the team, won the doubles tit le. Three kegl ers returned for 1972 and Harding won the national title for the third consecutive year. Although Hudson had a phenomenal 3,162 pinfall for the 15-game tournament, an average of 210.2 per game, an NAIA individual record , he was defeated for the singles championship in the two-game roll-off. In 1973, Hudson's senior year, he won the si ngles title in the two-game roll off although he ranked second at the close of the 15-game tournament.
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