Whitley bowler ReighAnn Oliphant signs with UC Wednesday

A reception was held Wednesday evening at the University of the Cumberlands’ Hutton School of Business building in honor of Whitley County senior ReighAnn Oliphant, who has signed on to compete as a member of the Patriots bowling team beginning next school year.

“I’m very excited to be recruited by UC bowling,” Oliphant said. “I can’t wait to begin my journey here, further my bowling career and get my college education.”

Oliphant was accompanied at the reception by her younger sister, Jacqueline, who also bowls at Whitley County. When asked about getting to see her big sister achieve her dream of bowling at the collegiate level, Jacqueline said, “I’m very proud of her. It’s great that she is getting to go to college for bowling. I’m just very happy for her.

Both of the Oliphants have been coached by Herman Moore over the past two years at Whitley. When asked about his experiences coaching ReighAnn, he said, “She has been great. I know that she’ll be successful. She puts her whole heart into bowling, and she also does great academically.”

Patriots bowling Head Coach Kevin Reigle said of his new signee, “We’re really excited to sign RegihAnn. She has kind of been around our program since we started four years ago. I’ve gotten to chance to see her bowl a lot over the past four or five years, and I’ve seen her really grow as an athlete. It’s just very exciting to have her on the team.”

Finally, Oliphant’s mother/coach, Agnes Brown-Oliphant, said of her daughter’s signing, “From the time that she started bowling she has always said that she wanted to bowl ‘for life.’ I told her that she could do it, and when Cumberlands got a team and Coach Reigle started talking to her, she decided that she wanted to go bowl there. My husband and I both are Cumberland alums, so it makes us happy that is where she wants to go. I think she’ll be happy there. She will be able to bowl, and she will be able to get her elementary education degree. She will also be able to stay in this area, which is what she wants.”

For more information on the University of the Cumberlands bowling teams, as well as all other UC athletics, visit them online at cumberlandspatriots.com.