{"id":25180,"date":"2019-09-17T08:58:39","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T12:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=25180"},"modified":"2020-02-13T11:37:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T16:37:49","slug":"former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Former “Striking Knight” Takes Gold in Bowling at Pan American Games"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Stefanie Johnson (left) and her bowling partner Shannon O’ Keefe.<\/p><\/div>\n

Team USA took gold in bowling this year at the Pan American games with the help of a former Striking Knight. The winning margin of 200 pins was the work of Stefanie Johnson \u201906 \u201908MA\u00a0and her bowling partner, Shannon O\u2019Keefe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe our margin,\u201d says Johnson, who majored in\u00a0criminal justice\u00a0<\/a>and earned a\u00a0master\u2019s in communication<\/a>\u00a0from UCF. \u201cI wasn\u2019t even aware it was that large until the judges notified me once the games ended. I was shocked, excited and incredibly proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s journey to July\u2019s Pan American games in Lima, Peru, started when she was just six. She continued playing for fun throughout her adolescent years. And by the time high school graduation came around, she knew that bowling was her calling. Johnson, who grew up in Miami, had bowling friends from around the state who were heading to Orlando to play on UCF\u2019s new bowling team, the Striking Knights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined the Striking Knights when they were brand new,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cWe were like a little family, and we were good at what we did. Bowling fueled us, and in turn we fueled each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from UCF in 2006, she began her career on Team USA as a professional bowler. It took more than a decade of hard work and practice to qualify for the Pan American Games, but 2019 was the year she not only qualified, but emerged the No. 1 qualifier in the U.S. This was a dream come true for Johnson. who never wavered in her faith that she\u2019d one day play in the games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the greatest opportunity to be given,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cThe accumulation of hard work, love for the game, and remaining positive is what has pushed me forward. It is what inspires me to represent our country in Lima.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer, Johnson and O\u2019Keefe set off for Peru, where they played 12 games over two days. Johnson handily beat the other teams with an individual record for the highest six-game block.<\/p>\n

Since the Pan American Games, Johnson has competed in a number of Professional Women\u2019s Bowling Association events, including the recent World Championship games in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a huge year for me and Team USA,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cUCF helped facilitate the love I have for bowling. I look back and am glad to see how much I\u2019ve grown as an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team USA took gold in bowling this year at the Pan American games with the help of a former Striking Knight. The winning margin of 200 pins was the work of Stefanie Johnson \u201906 \u201908MA\u00a0and her bowling partner, Shannon O\u2019Keefe. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe our margin,\u201d says Johnson, who majored in\u00a0criminal justice\u00a0and earned a\u00a0master\u2019s in communication\u00a0from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":25181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,37,5967,28,29,1],"tags":[6094,6097,6096,6095],"class_list":["post-25180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-communication","category-notables","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","category-uncategorized","tag-pan-american-games","tag-professional-womens-bowling-association","tag-shannon-okeefe","tag-stefanie-johnson"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer "Striking Knight" Takes Gold in Bowling at Pan American Games - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former "Striking Knight" Takes Gold in Bowling at Pan American Games - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Team USA took gold in bowling this year at the Pan American games with the help of a former Striking Knight. The winning margin of 200 pins was the work of Stefanie Johnson \u201906 \u201908MA\u00a0and her bowling partner, Shannon O\u2019Keefe. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe our margin,\u201d says Johnson, who majored in\u00a0criminal justice\u00a0and earned a\u00a0master\u2019s in communication\u00a0from […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-17T12:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-13T16:37:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/09\/image23.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jordan McGrew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jordan McGrew\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jordan McGrew\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/abc2f347c8227e0b042d56dcee824d44\"},\"headline\":\"Former “Striking Knight” Takes Gold in Bowling at Pan American Games\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-17T12:58:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-13T16:37:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/image23.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Pan American games\",\"Professional Women's Bowling Association\",\"Shannon O'Keefe\",\"Stefanie Johnson\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni News\",\"Nicholson School of Communication and Media\",\"Notables\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/former-striking-knight-takes-gold-in-bowling-at-pan-american-games\\\/\",\"name\":\"Former \\\"Striking Knight\\\" Takes Gold in Bowling at Pan American Games - 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