CLINTON — On Monday, March 9, possibly a first-of-its-kind local event took place in the Clinton High School (CHS) commons.  

As most know, this is where the student athletes sign their letters-of-intent to carry on their studies and athletics at the next level.  The first in this case was that the student signed a letter-of-intent for bowling.  

Ethan Aughenbaugh, son of Tom and Karen Aughenbaugh, signed his letter-of-intent to attend, and bowl for the Lynx of Lincoln College.  Ethan also ran some track at CHS, but is forgoing that to concentrate on bowling and his studies. 

 He was invited by Lincoln College because their head bowling coach, Candace Van Bogaert, has followed Ethan’s rise through youth leagues at Lincoln Lanes.  When the Clinton Bowl closed, Ethan began bowling in Lincoln, as many others did, and has continued bowling, even when others stopped.  

Ethan will attend Lincoln College for two years, while getting in his core studies and then could move on to a larger university setting to pursue a computer science degree.

Coach Van Bogaert said Ethan caught her eye while she was watching the bowling participants bowling in Lincoln for possible recruits.  

She was impressed with the way Ethan handled himself while bowling, his demeanor and his fundamentally sound skill on the lanes.  

Ethan will head into a growing program, since  Lincoln College expanded into a four-year school last year and all the programs are in their second year in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA).  The coach said that in last year’s inaugural year in the NAIA, they did well and are expecting much better things this year.