Women's Bowling 5/18/2017 2:00:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Interim Tag Removed For Head Bowling Coach

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College director of athletics Bridget Niland announced today that David Zajac will have the interim tag removed from his title, officially making him the college's head women's bowling coach.

"David came to us in trying times and had to adapt quickly to a new situation. He has proven himself to be a skilled coach and recruiter, and we are confident that he can take this young program to new heights in the coming years," Niland said.

Zajac took the reins of the program on an interim basis last fall, just days before the team opened its second season of competition at the Bud Whitman Memorial Tournament hosted by Kutztown University. After going just 2-9 at that opening tournament, Zajac presided over the team's resurgence, going 14-18 over the remainder of the season to finish 16-25 overall, a two-win improvement over the team's record in its inaugural season (14-31).

In addition, the interim title has been removed for assistant coach Daniel Antkowiak who will remain with the program as Zajac's top aide.

"I want to thank Bridget Niland for the opportunity to continue building this program," Zajac said. "It was a difficult transition with everything happening very quickly last fall, but once we got our feet underneath us with a firm understanding of everything that goes into running a college program, I thought we really started to turn the corner during the spring semester. That being said, I owe a great deal of thanks to Daniel Antkowiak who has assisted in many facets of the program, especially on the recruiting trail. I am happy to have Dan with me because he has a great passion for this sport, and we collectively see a successful program in Daemen's future. It's a well-known fact that Western New York is one of the top areas in the country for the sport of bowling, and I am very much looking forward to building our program here at Daemen into one that's just as widely regarded on the collegiate bowling scene."

While the job at Daemen represents Zajac's first head coaching experience at the collegiate level, he brings a wealth of experience from previous coaching stops and from his own playing career. He served as team captain at both Erie Community College and Saginaw Valley State University, and was a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American at the former. He helped the ECC Kats capture the 2011 NJCAA national championship after averaging a national tournament-best 224 pins per round.

Zajac got his start in coaching at the scholastic level, spending time as an assistant coach for his alma mater, Niagara Falls High School, as well as at fellow Niagara Frontier League member Lockport High School. He also spent time assisting the program at Niagara County Community College, before becoming the head varsity coach at Kenmore East High School, a post he held from 2013-15. In 2015, Zajac led the Kenmore East boys' team to a fourth-place finish in the New York State tournament, winning the school's first Section VI championship since 1968 in the process.

Daemen is set to return nine of the 10 players from its 2016-17 roster, losing just senior Hayle Scanlan (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) to graduation. The returners include the team's top three performers - team captain Kaitlyn O'Hara (Clarence Center, N.Y./Clarence), Katie Good (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) and Rachel Steele (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia).

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Players Mentioned

#17 Kaitlyn O'Hara: 5' 0"; Redshirt Sophomore

#16 Hayle Scanlan: 5' 5"; Junior

#53 Katie Good: 5' 2"; Freshman

#61 Rachel Steele: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#17 Kaitlyn O'Hara
: 5' 0"; Redshirt Sophomore

#16 Hayle Scanlan
: 5' 5"; Junior

#53 Katie Good
: 5' 2"; Freshman

#61 Rachel Steele
: 5' 3"; Freshman