Cook signs to hit Blue Mountain lanes

COLUMBUS – Chasity Cook has been pretty much raised in a bowing alley.

For the last seven years, she has performed her craft for the Starkville Yellow Jackets.

“I've been bowling since I was 6 or 7 years old and it's been like the family thing to do,” Cook said.

Cook won't have to put away her bowling ball once she goes to college as she signed a scholarship on Monday to continue her career at Blue Mountain College. She celebrated the occasion with family, teammates and family at GT Lanes in Columbus.

It is the first time that a Yellow Jacket has accepted a college bowling scholarship.

Blue Mountain coach Creighton Nelms was impressed with Cook's leadership ability and how she's grown as a bowler under the direction of SHS coach Jim Philamlee.

He is glad to finally have a Yellow Jacket as a part of his program.

“I've been trying to get one for the past couple of years and I finally landed one,” Nelms said. “I'm excited to have her to add to the pieces I've got there. It's really just taking the learning experience she's already got and get her to grow the knowledge of the game.”

Cook chose Blue Mountain because of its Christian environment and that means a great deal to her family.

Philamlee said Cook has been a positive example for the SHS program and was pleased with the choice she made in a college.

“I'm familiar with that school,” Philamlee said. “I'm happy for her, her family and everybody.”

There was a time when Cook wasn't sure if bowling was something she was going to be pursue in college.

With the opportunity at Blue Mountain, Cook has blazed a trail that may lead others to follow in her footsteps.

“Not many kids actually go in for bowling and not many people know there are colleges that have bowling teams,” Cook said. “To know I'm the first to sign shows others on the bowling team that you can do this. Many say this is not a sport, but it's a sport.”