Collegiate Hall Of Famers
Student-Athlete
Jack Connaughton
City: Lafayette
State: IN
Inducted: 2024
Connaughton was a standout at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse(previously Wisconsin State University-La Crosse) from 1964-1968 and dominated competition across the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) ranks.
In ACUI competition, Connaughton swept the top spots at the 1967 national finals, winning singles, doubles and all-events. He returned in1968 to successfully defend his titles in singles and all-events, while finishing fourth in doubles.
During the same two-year span at the NAIA Championship, Connaughton helped Wisconsin-La Crosse win back-to-back team titles, claimed a pair of wins in doubles competition and recorded a first-place finish in singles at the 1968 event. He finished as the runner-up in singles in 1967.
In 1966, he led Wisconsin-La Crosse to the National Intercollegiate Bowling Association (NIBA) team title.
Connaughton, originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin, traveled to Paris, France, in 1967 as the first collegiate representative of the United States at the famed World Cup, where he captured the victory.
He has received numerous awards and honors and is a member of the NAIA, Kansas State USBC and Wisconsin State USBC Halls of Fame.
Student-AthleteRoger Dalkin
City: Greendale
State: WI
Inducted: 2025
Dalkin was a standout at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) from 1969-1972, during which time he won a combined 15 Association of College Unions International (ACUI) titles, five at the national level and 10 during regional competition.
He was crowned ACUI Region VI champion in team, singles and all-events in 1969, team in 1970, doubles and all-events in 1971 and team, doubles, singles and all-events in 1972.
That gave Dalkin an incredible 10 regional titles in 16 events against the best collegiate bowlers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi over that stretch, during which he qualified for the national tournament three times.
Dalkin’s ACUI National Championship record is equally impressive as he won national titles in five different events over the course of his four years at Georgia Tech, winning the doubles championship with Joseph Hill of Oklahoma State in 1969, singles and all-events in 1971 and doubles (with Kenneth Knowles of Florida State) and all-events in 1972.
Those five titles tie Dalkin with Jack Connaughton of Wisconsin-La Crosse – who was inducted into the inaugural USBC Collegiate Hall of Fame class in 2024 – for the most national championship victories in collegiate bowling history.
Dalkin’s collegiate successes earned him the right to represent Team USA at the 1971 AMF World Cup in Hong Kong, where he emerged as champion. The following year, Dalkin finished fourth while attempting to successfully defend his title at the 1972 event in Hamburg, Germany.
Once his competitive bowling days were behind him, Dalkin went on to serve the sport of bowling in multiple administrative positions, including USBC CEO. Those contributions led to Dalkin’s induction into the USBC Hall of Fame in the Meritorious Service category in 2008.
Student-Athlete
Kelly Kulick
City: Union
State: NJ
Inducted: 2024
Kulick was a collegiate star at Morehead State University from 1995-1999 before ascending as one of the biggest names in the sport through her triumphs on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) and Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tours and as a member of Team USA.
After earning a spot as a second-team All-American from the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) her freshman season, Kulick rattled off three consecutive first-team selections. She was named the NCBCA Most Valuable Player in each of those seasons(1996-1997, 1997-1998 and 1998-1999).
Kulick also was the recipient of the International Bowling Media Association (IBMA) Collegiate Bowler of the Year award in 1997 and 1998.
Fans from across the globe have watched Kulick deliver clutch strikes to claim seven PWBA Tour titles (including five major championships)and more than 20 gold medals as a member of Team USA and Junior Team USA. In 2010, she garnered global praise as she became the first woman to win a national title on the PBA Tour with her major victory at the PBA Tournament of Champions.
She set the stage for those moments in 1998 at the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. In the two-game total-pinfall championship against Central Missouri State, Kulick stepped up in a must-strike situation for the Eagles and rolled two strikes to secure the program’s second national title.
Kulick was inducted to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2019 for Superior Performance.
Bill O'Neill
City: Langhorne
State: PA
Inducted: 2025
O’Neill was a star athlete while at Saginaw Valley State University from 2001-2004.
The talented right-hander wasted no time making a name for himself upon joining the Cardinals’ program as he earned NCBCA All-American honors as a freshman during the 2000-2001 season.
O’Neill would repeat the feat during each of his final three seasons at SVSU, adding his name to the short but impressive list of collegiate bowlers to reach four-time First-Team All-American status.
That wasn’t the only honor bestowed upon O’Neill, however, as he was named NCBCA Men’s Player of the Year for both the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons.
O’Neill’s efforts helped the Cardinals to a runner-up finish at the 2004 Intercollegiate Team Championships.
After leaving Saginaw Valley State, O’Neill went on to enjoy success as a seven-time member of Team USA, where he was a four-time world championship gold medalist, and as a standout performer on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, where he is a 15-time titlist and three-time major champion.
Student-Athlete
Rick Steelsmith
City: Wichita
State: KS
Inducted: 2024
Steelsmith became the first four-time NCBCA first-team All-American in the men’s division during his tenure at Vincennes University and Wichita State University from 1983-1987.
During his two-year stint at Vincennes, Steelsmith helped the Trailblazers win the 1985 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) team championship. He also claimed the national singles title for NJCAA in 1985.
Making his move to Wichita State for his junior and senior campaigns, Steelsmith continued to showcase his talent at the top level. He helped the Shockers to a third-place finish at the Intercollegiate Team Championships in 1986, earning the honor of Most Valuable Player for the all-tournament team.
Steelsmith put together his finest showing in 1987. He was named the NCBCA Most Valuable Player and IBMA Collegiate Bowler of the Year, again earned MVP honors at the Intercollegiate Team Championships and helped the Shockers record the team victory at the ITC.
Shortly after concluding his collegiate season, he went on to win the USBC Masters as an amateur and claimed two gold medals (trios, all-events), one silver medal (Masters) and two bronze medals (singles, doubles) for Team USA at the International Bowling Federation World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
At the start of the 2019-2020 season, Steelsmith took over as the men’s head bowling coach at Wichita State and has helped the Shockers win the 2021 and 2023 Intercollegiate Team Championships.
Steelsmith, the 1988 PBA Rookie of the Year and two-time PBA Tour champion, is a member of the NJCAA, Kansas State USBC and USBC(2013) Halls of Fame.
Student-Athlete
Vicki Vallie (née Parker)
City: Nashua
State: NH
Inducted: 2025
Vallie enjoyed a great deal of success while competing for Indiana State University from 1983-1986.
Big things were expected of Vallie from her very first days competing on the lanes for the Sycamores. That’s because she came to Indiana State after having won the Alberta E. Crowe Award – given to one of the nation’s top female high school bowlers – in 1982.
Vallie didn’t buckle under the weight of the expectations though; instead, she thrived.
She earned NCBCA First-Team All-American honors and was the women’s Rookie of the Year during her freshman season in 1983, helping the Indiana State team to a runner-up finish at the national tournament in the process.
The Sycamores got over the hump and secured the women’s national title in 1984 with Vallie contributing heavily during another First-Team All-American season.
During her final two seasons at Indiana State, Vallie brought home a singles national championship (1985), recorded another runner-up team performance at the national tournament (1985) and earned two more First-Team All-American awards.
At the time, that made Vallie the first four-time First-Team All-American in collegiate bowling history.
She would go on to record a sixth-place finish while competing for Team USA at the 1986 World Cup.
All of those accomplishments led to Vallie’s induction into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
CoachBill Straub
City: Lincoln
State: NE
Inducted: 2025
Straub-led teams were a permanent fixture in the top five in the end-of-year rankings throughout his coaching career with the Nebraska men’s team finishing no worse than ranked fifth every year from 1988-2003 – when Straub stopped coaching the men’s team – and the Cornhuskers’ women’s team landing in the top five in the final poll each season from 1988-2019.
From 1997-2019, Straub led the Nebraska women to an overall record of 2,370 wins against just 467 losses, a winning percentage of nearly 84%.
Those accolades and many others led to Straub being named National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) National Coach of the Year four times (2005, 2013, 2017 and 2018).
Coach
Gordon Vadakin
City: Wichita
State: KS
Inducted: 2024
Vadakin was at the helm of the Wichita State University men’s and women’s bowling programs from 1978-2019 and helped the Shockers claim 18 national titles between both teams.
The men’s program collected 11 Intercollegiate Team Championships titles during Vadakin’s tenure (1980, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998,2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2015), and the men’s team is the only program to record three consecutive wins at the ITC, having accomplished the feat two times (1993-1995 and 2008-2010).
The women’s team earned seven wins at the ITC under Vadakin’s watch, claiming victory in 1978, 1986, 1990, 1994, 2005, 2007and 2009.
In all, the men’s program qualified for the ITC in 37 of Vadakin’s 42 years leading the program, while the women’s team earned their spot in 41 of 42 attempts, advancing each year since 1982.
Along with the team success, Vadakin also coached nine individual national champions (six at the Intercollegiate Singles Championships). He had 12 student-athletes claim a combined 24 NCBCA Most Valuable Player and IBMA Collegiate Bowler of the Year awards and coached 145 NCBCA All-Americans and nearly 250 academic All-Americans. At the professional ranks, Vadakin coached 17 athletes who went on to win PBA or PWBA Tour events.
In 2020, the NCBCA renamed its award to recognize the top coach in the men’s division as the NCBCA Gordon Vadakin Coach of the Year Award.
Vadakin, a two-time Team USA member and two-time Eagle winner at the USBC Open Championships, is a Kansas State USBC and USBC (2007) Hall of Famer.
Contributor
Karl Nickolai
City: Canton
State: MI
Inducted: 2024
Nickolai started his involvement in collegiate bowling first as a student-athlete at Michigan State University before taking over as the head coach of the men’s program. He held the coaching spot with the Spartans for 35 years, and in 2001, became the first recipient of the NCBCA Kerm Helmer (now Gordon Vadakin) Coach of the Year Award.
He left a lasting mark in how the sport was consumed with the launching of CollegeBowling.com in 1997. The website served as a place to view tournament results across the collegiate landscape, and it expanded over time to include rankings, statistics and player profiles. Nickolai maintained the website until 2020, when the site became part of USBC’s CollegeBowling.Bowl.com.
Nickolai was responsible for several additional items used to help rank collegiate teams and student-athletes versus the field.
In 1998, he teamed with Joe Ciccone to develop the Team Ranking System (TRS), which is an objective point-based system for ranking schools on performance in regular-season tournaments and used today to help determine sectional assignments for the four qualifying events for the Intercollegiate Team Championships.
He also introduced average differential to the collegiate bowling scene, which measures the average for a student-athlete during an event and over the season against the field of competition.
Nickolai also has given his time to the NCBCA and has been a member since 1984. He has served two separate stints as the organization’s president (1992-1994 and 1998-2020) and was selected as the NCBCA Gordon Teigen Meritorious Service Award winner in 1999.
He also was recognized for his service in 2010 as the USBC Youth Volunteer of the Year and was presented the IBMA Alberta E. Crowe Meritorious Service Award in 2019.
ContributorGordon Teigen
City: Onalaska
State: WI
Inducted: 2025
Teigen dedicated his life to bowling, serving as a successful collegiate coach, mentor and administrative leader at the local, state and national levels.
He worked for the American Bowling Congress (ABC) from 1964-1967, during which time he was tasked with organizing the collegiate division of the ABC and Women’s International Bowling Congress. Teigen’s work there led to him being considered one of the founders of the ABC/WIBC Collegiate Division – now USBC Collegiate.
From 1969-1971, Teigen worked for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), serving as chairman of the bowling sports section.
All the while, he molded some of the best collegiate bowlers of the day while serving as a collegiate coach, first at North Dakota State – then North Dakota Agricultural University – and then at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Teigen founded the North Dakota State University bowling program in 1954.
During his 11 seasons as head coach, Teigen’s Bison amassed a dual-match record of 118 wins and 50 losses and won three state titles (1960, 1961 and 1963).
Teigen also was responsible for helping establish the Tri-State Collegiate Bowling Conference, the North Dakota State Bowling Conference and the North Dakota Bowling Proprietors Association, an organization he served as executive secretary for three years.
After transitioning to UW-La Crosse, Teigen’s men’s team won nine conference championships while his women’s squads brought home eight.
His team won an NAIA title in 1968 and NAIA and National Intercollegiate Bowling Association (NIBA) crowns in 1969.
For his contributions to collegiate bowling both on and off the lanes, Teigen was inducted into the NAIA, North Dakota Bowling and North Dakota Sports Halls of Fame.
In 1980, he was awarded the National Bowling Coaches Service Award, which has since been renamed the Gordon Teigen Service Award.
The bowling lanes at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Cartwright Center also were renamed Teigen Lanes in his honor.