NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (4/13/16) – Jordan Richard, Brooke Wood, Stephanie Mims, and Haley Richard of the Arkansas State women's bowling squad earned All-American awards from the National Tenpin Coaches Association, while head coach Justin Kostick was named NTCA Division I Coach of the Year Wednesday night at the NCAA Awards Banquet in New Brunswick, N.J.

The four players for the Red Wolves earning All-American accolades is a new school record, breaking the previous record of three set in 2012, 2014, and 2015.

A native of Tecumseh, Mich., Jordan Richard earned First-Team All-American status in her first season at A-State. The sophomore led A-State with five all-tournament selections this year, including the MVP awards at the team's last two events, the Music City Classic and Southland Bowling Championships. She led the team with a 207.28 average in 52 games this year.

“Jordan had a phenomenal season and I am extremely proud of her,” Kostick said. “She's a great player and I wouldn't rather have anyone else making shots in the clutch.”

Wood picked up her third consecutive All-American honor with a second-team accolade after earning honorable mention honors the past two years.  The junior from Davison, Mich., made two all-tournament teams throughout the year at the FDU Jamboree and the Southland Bowling League Championship. She averaged 201.04 in 50 games this season.

“Brooke was just very consistent this year,” said Kostick. “She was just our rock all year and I'm glad she got rewarded for it.  She deserves it, despite not having some of the all-tournament awards that some of our players had.”

The team's lone senior, Mims, picked up her first career All-American award with a third-team selection. She earned all-tournament honors at the FDU Jamboree and Prairie View A&M Invitational.  The Richmond, Va., native averaged 201.67 pins per game and has four career all-tournament nods to her credit.

“I am so happy for Stephanie making All-American for the first time,” Kostick added. “She's a great player and just a great person.  She's been this team's leader this season and we wouldn't be where we are without her.”

Haley Richard, who is Jordan's sister, was named an Honorable Mention All-American. The Tecumseh, Mich., native made three all-tournament teams this season capturing the honor at the FDU Jamboree, Crusader Classic, and Music City Classic. She had a 202.33 average throughout the course of the season.

“Haley is a fantastic player with a high level of talent,” Kostick said. “She's been a consistent force for us this season and two of the all-tournaments she made were at the two biggest fields of the year so that's really impressive.”

Kostick picked up his third National Tenpin Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year award after earning the accolade during the 2012 and 2014 seasons also. The team has made nine straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament with the last seven coming under his leadership.

“There's only one thing I can say and it's that coaches don't win this award without great players,” added Kostick. “I definitely have a great group of ladies that are extremely talented and that's why I won this honor.  In the end, it's really a team award.”

The awards banquet featured keynote speaker Chrissie Kent, who was a collegiate bowler herself, and is still deeply involved with the game.  There was also an excellent dinner provided, remarks by members of each team, and the presentation of the awards.  Mims, Wood, Ashley Hostert, and Samantha Wallace were the Red Wolves representatives that took the stage and used their time to roast Coach Kostick, which incited plenty of laughs from the capacity crowd.

Before the evening's festivities, the team took part in a practice session from 9-11 a.m. at the Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes, the site of the championship.  The Red Wolves practiced with Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin, and Vanderbilt, while the other four teams (Central Missouri, North Carolina A&T, McKendree, and Sam Houston State) took part in an afternoon session.

“I thought we had great ball reaction at practice today,” Kostick said. “We are focused and we had a great session this morning. I feel like we are set up really well for this competition over the next few days.”

The tournament begins Thursday, April 14 with qualifying rounds in which each team bowls one five-person regular team game against each of the other seven participating teams.  Teams will be seeded for bracket play based on their win-loss record during the qualifying rounds.  All of the matches can be watched via live stream on www.NCAA.com.

At the conclusion of the qualifying rounds, teams will then compete in best-of-seven Baker matches in the double elimination tournament beginning Friday, April 15.  In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled.  A Baker match tied at 3½ a piece after seven games will be decided by a tiebreaker using the Modified Baker format.   

The championship final will air on ESPNU Saturday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m. (CT), while a tape delay broadcast of the championship final will air on ESPN Sunday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m. (CT).