Shawn Flanary enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Lincoln women's bowling team in 2018-19.
The first head coach in program history, Flanary led the Blue Tigers to a fourth-place finish in their first-ever tournament in 2015. Lincoln also added a sixth-place result to its resume later in the season, and sent Dani Doolan to the USBC Sectionals. In 2016-17, Flanary guided Lincoln through its inaugural season in the MIAA and led LU to several conference victories.
In 2017-18, Lincoln enjoyed its best season yet, securing wins over several ranked programs, including No. 15 Sacred Heart in the final tourney of the regular season. In the postseason, Flanary guided LU to its highest-ever finish at the MIAA Championship, as the Blue Tigers defeated Elmhurst to place fourth overall.
Flanary has demonstrated proven ability to build a program from the ground up, as he started the Jefferson City High-affiliated bowling team and immediately led that squad to success. Flanary began the program in 2010 and led the team to the Missouri state championship tournament in its first season, ultimately finishing 14th.
The next year, Flanary built on that success by guiding the program to a state runner-up finish. Despite losing nine seniors, Flanary helped his 2012-13 squad finish 10th in the state. The led to last year, in which Jefferson City won the 2014 state title.
A life-long fan of the sport of bowling, Flanary began competing at a serious level while stationed with the United States Army in Hawaii in the mid-80s. In 1985, he became the first player in his unit to shoot a 300. Flanary has bowled over 30 perfect games in his career and has won 12 Professional Bowlers Assocation events.
Originally from Detroit, Mich., where he was a member of the Detroit All-Star Traveling League, Flanary first moved to Missouri in the 1980s when he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood.
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