Bowling’s CC Riojas Named NTCA Division II/III Rookie of the Year

Bowling’s CC Riojas Named NTCA Division II/III Rookie of the Year

WHITEWATER, Wisc. - - Freshman bowling standout CC Riojas concludes a record-breaking season for the Wilmington University bowling team by being named the National Ten Pin Coaches Association Division II/III Rookie of the Year, as the organization announced the 2019-2020 All-America and Special Honors on Monday.

The All-America Teams and Special Honors have been traditionally announced on the eve of the NCAA Championship, which were originally scheduled April 10-11 in Detroit.

It is the first time in the program's four years that a Wildcat has been honored with a NTCA postseason award. Riojas was named to the East Coast Conference's Second Team a few weeks ago, narrowly missing the ECC Rookie of the Year title.

Riojas (San Antonio, Texas/Brennan) earned four ECC Rookie of the Week nominations this past season, falling just short of the major award at year's end. As a freshman, Riojas finished sixth overall in the conference with an 18.997 frame average throughout 1036 frames played. In Traditional Format, she finished eighth overall and led the team with a 19.061 frame average, while ranking sixth overall in Baker Format with an 18.946 frame average. When it came to individual strike performance, she finished second overall in the league with a 45.8 strike percentage on 1044 attempts throughout the season. Her best strike performance was in Traditional Format, where she had a 46.1 strike percentage, finishing third overall. When it came to the ninth frame, Riojas ranked second overall in strike percentage with a 44.5 strike percentage in Baker Format. Overall, she finished eighth in the ECC with an 80.37 Player Composite Performance Index.

The freshman finished in the top five in three tournaments, earning All-Tournament honors at the Molloy Bowl for the Cure, the Wildcat DII/DIII Invite, and the Virginia Union Invite.

Riojas becomes the second ECC bowler to earn the NTCA Division II/III Rookie of the Year award, joining Lincoln Memorial's Justine Brookover from the 2017-18 season.

Click here to see the full PDF of the 2019-20 NTCA All-America Teams and Special Honors.