INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian College department of athletics is proud to announce the expansion of Knights' athletics.

The Marian College Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a men's and women's intercollegiate bowling program to begin competition in the fall of 2010. The program will offer athletic scholarships to recruited members of the bowling team, which will distinguish Marian College's program from "club" programs offered at many other Indiana institutions of higher learning.

Marian College, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, will participate in at least 10 United States Bowling Congress-sanctioned tournaments throughout the Midwest and beyond. The Knights' program will be the 17th at the NAIA level to sponsor bowling as a USBC-sanctioned varsity sport. The goal for Marian College is to have at least 21 intercollegiate bowlers participating as members of the program by August of 2010.

The Knights will practice at Jubilee Bowl, an outstanding bowling facility in Indianapolis. Located at 7420 North Michigan Road, just 10 minutes from our campus, Jubilee Bowl provides bowlers with 36 Brunswick Pro synthetic lanes with automatic scoring for a top-notch bowling experience.

"We are excited about starting an intercollegiate bowling program at Marian College," said Director of Athletics Joe Haklin. "We are confident that the start-up years for bowling will mirror the successful establishment of our young football program. Adding bowling to our athletic mix is another indication that Marian College is on the move and making history."

Haklin has appointed Chad Hardin as head men's and women's bowling coach. Hardin will be entering his fourth year at Marian College, and has been instrumental in building the Marian College women's soccer program into the 2008 Mid-Central College Conference regular season champions. He also serves as a full-time supervisor of the Adams Fitness Center and Physical Education Center.

"Chad Hardin will provide energetic leadership as our new head bowling coach," said Haklin. "As a full-time employee of Marian College, he will be able to offer the proper guidance and counseling which each of our coaches affords their student-athletes. With Coach Hardin's dedication to excellence combined with an excellent practice facility in Jubilee Bowl, we expect to attract highly competitive bowlers from the high schools in Indiana and beyond."

Hardin will be attending several large bowling tournaments this summer in search of competitive high school bowlers. For example, Coach Hardin will be attending the 2009 USBC Youth Open Championships at Expo Bowl in Indianapolis on July 10-11, 16-25 as well as the 2009 USBC Junior Gold Championships at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis on July 11-17. Additionally, Hardin will be at the 2009 North Pointe Insurance Group High School Singles Championships on July 18-20.

"I am very excited to take on this wonderful opportunity," said Hardin. "There are some very good high school bowlers in Indiana and surrounding states, and I feel that we should have a competitive program right away. I look forward to building the program into a championship contender."

This is the second expansion of the Marian College Department of Athletics since 2006 when the football program was announced. Marian College athletics sponsors 21 competitive varsity sports as a member of the NAIA, the Mid-Central College Conference, the Mid-States Football Association, and USA Cycling.