Vastbinder looms large at small-school power

Circle Christian grad starring for Newman University Jets

On the day she rolled the final ball of her high school bowling career, Leanne Vastbinder was approached by her personal coach.

“Hey, have you ever heard of Newman?” John Gaines inquired.

Newman?

Who is Newman? What is Newman? Vastbinder, Florida’s only two-time individual state champion in girls bowling, was clueless, but it didn’t take her long to find out about the small, private university in Kansas and its short, but rich, pedigree in the sport.

Before Vastbinder, 20, begins her junior year of college, she attempted to qualify Thursday for the BowlerX.com PWBA Orlando Open at Boardwalk Bowl (10749 E. Colonial Dr.) but was not one of the nine bowlers who advanced into the main field. Tickets for the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. on Saturday, are $20.

“[Bowling’s] not mostly about the amount of strength that you have,” Vastbinder said. “It’s not necessarily about the amount of athleticism you have. While that is important, it’s about the finesse, and it’s about the mental game that you have.”

Vastbinder got her start in bowling when her mother enrolled her and her two older brothers in a “kids bowl free” program. When she was 11, they joined a Saturday league.

By the time Vastbinder graduated from Circle Christian in Winter Park, her skills were as clear as freshly cleaned glass. She captured individual state titles in 2014 and ’16, and in the year between, she guided the Centurions to the team championship.

Vastbinder was specific about what she wanted out of a college. Gaines gave her a list of three schools that fit those parameters.

“She visited, and I like to think she liked what she saw and what we represented and chose us,” said Newman coach Billy Murphy, who has known Gaines for about 25 years.

Founded in 1933, Newman University is named after John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English cardinal who is set to be canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in October. It is in Wichita, the birthplace of Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh.

Vastbinder plays music, too — her instrument is the piano — and sings, but mostly she bowls. That made Newman, whose program Murphy helped start in 2003 (the same year that the Florida High School Athletic Association first sanctioned bowling), a natural fit.

Since then, the Jets have reached nationals 13 times.

“Billy is very personable and very individual with all his players to try to figure out their individual games and what makes them work and what motivates them,” Vastbinder said. “That was very appealing to me as someone who comes from more of a smaller-school background.”

Vastbinder made an immediate impact at Newman as a freshman, averaging 192.6 pins per game to rank second on the team. She dropped to fifth last year with an average score of 183.8.

“Leanne has that demeanor where it doesn’t matter what her score is,” Gaines said. “She can shoot 250. She can shoot 150, but she understands how to handle that.”

Murphy said Vastbinder has developed into a leader during her first two years at Newman. Possessing an appreciation for teaching helps. Vastbinder, who will serve as the op-ed editor at her school newspaper, is working toward a degree in communications and wants to become a professor.

When she is not riding around campus on her longboard, she likes to concentrate her problem-solving skills on her sport.

“The mental game of bowling is very challenging,” Vastbinder said. “I’m not there yet. I just really enjoy the fact that bowling is very much something that is between you and the lanes.” Vastbinder is one of Newman’s own. “She is the kind of kid we want here,” Murphy said.