She’s one unique teen: Local juggles many crafts

Vandebilt Catholic junior Colleen Cheramie said she wakes up every morning at around 6:30 a.m. to get ready for her day.

By 6:45, she’s already in her car making the hour-long trek from Golden Meadow to Houma to start her day.

Even in the earliest minutes of the day, life is already moving pretty quickly for the teen.

But her resume shows that she handles the fast pace in style.

Cheramie is a two-time state champion bowler with the Lady Terriers – owning both individual and team titles in her career.

In addition to her bowling success, she is a varsity cheerleader, accomplished dancer and successful student.

“I don’t like to not be busy,” Cheramie said with a smile. “I don’t do boredom very well.”

The prolific Lady Terriers’ bowler shared her story this week, explaining most of the odds and ins that make up her busy life.

Over two games at Creole Lanes on Friday, Cheramie opened up about her bowling career, explained why her bowling bag smells like Fruit Loops and shared her plans for the future.

Bowling talent? She gets it from her Mama

A young blonde boy readies for his opening frame of the day.

He picks up his rainbow colored ball and gingerly works his way to the lane.

In one fell swoop using all of his strength, he shifts the ball from his hip forward to the frame – putting all of his might into the throw, nearly falling into the lane as the ball comes off his fingers.

The proper technique is non-existent. Nothing about the small boy’s action remotely resembles bowling form. But the end-result isn’t so bad, as the ball goes forward, ricocheting off several bumpers before colliding with the pins.

This is a memory fairly common among anyone who has bowled as a child.

But as Cheramie watches the young bowler knock down 4 pins in his first toss, she somewhat admits that she was a bit of a natural in her craft.

“I’ve always known how to throw,” she said. “I always had technique. It was just sort of a self-taught thing.”

Cheramie said she started bowling when she was about 7.

She said she picked up the sport because her mother enjoyed the sport.

“She introduced us to the sport when we were young,” Cheramie said. “This is something that we’ve always done as a family.”

From watching her mother, she taught herself how to maximize her own skills.

It paid off. Cheramie said she was always competitive at the sport.

Her first game above 100?

“It was probably when I was 8 or 9,” she said. “I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve just always been pretty good.”

 

Four steps and a cloud of dust

“It’s different for everyone,” Cheramie said with a laugh when asked about her routine before a shot.

Cheramie said she doesn’t consciously follow the same routine before each shot – everything just automatically falls into place.

She said she grabs her ball and readies herself mentally for the upcoming frame.

“You just think about everything that there is to consider,” she said. “You think about the lanes – are they oily or are they dry? You’re thinking about what game you’re in, what score you have – all of that stuff.”

Once ready, Cheramie said she takes four steps and then releases the ball – letting go of the ball before her foot crosses the foul line.

“My foot is close to the foul-line, but I almost never foul,” she said.

As the ball leaves her hand, Cheramie said her focus is on maintaining a proper follow through – something she battles when in a slump.

Before the shot, she uses the marks on the lane to aim her shot. As the ball rolls forward off the hand, she watches closely to see if the ball hits the aiming point.

If it does, success is likely forthcoming. If not, who knows what may happen.

“You can tell right away,” Cheramie said. “If it hits your mark and you follow through properly, you sort of get a good feeling that you’re about to get a strike.

“Of course, it makes you all the more frustrated when you do those things and then you get a split or something like that. But that’s the way this sport is. Bowling is mostly a luck thing. It’s just somewhat about the skill.”

 

Meet Lucy – a Fruit Loop scented ball

Almost all athletes have their superstitions.

Cheramie is no different. She loves her ball.

The junior uses a Lucid-brand ball specially tailored to curve into the pocket right at the point of contact – a technique experienced bowlers use to maximize their opportunity to get a strike and minimize the chances of a split.

That’s commonplace in bowling.

The quirky part comes within the name.

Cheramie said she’s named her ball Lucy. The ball is multi-colored and it is fruit-looped scented.

“I initially wanted this one because it smells good,” Cheramie quips. “My other ball smells like berries. But the scent faded away, because it’s been cleaned a lot. Now, it just sort of smells like the bowling alley.”

The Lady Terrier said she trusts ‘ol Lucy and believes in her during the heat of battle.

On this day, Lucy was just a spectator, because she is waiting to get re-drilled. Instead of bowling with her prized partner, Cheramie uses her spare.

“I love this ball,” Cheramie said. “It just feels better when I’m bowling with it. It’s more suited to the way that I play, and the things I’m trying to do when I bowl.

 

One ring. Two rings. Four rings?

“I must have made about six or seven strikes in a row,” Cheramie said. “I really had things going that day.”

Cheramie said the best game she’s ever bowled was a 264.

It came at an important time – during the state championship match last year.

The 264 powered her through the competition – which she eventually won and became state champion.

“It was a good day,” Cheramie says with a smile looking back.

Cheramie said her average is in the 190s – she tops 200 fairly often when Lucy is in commission.

She is the anchor of Vandebilt’s bowling squad, which put together all of the pieces this year and won its first-ever state championship.

“Now, I will have my second ring,” Cheramie said showing the ring she won for being the individual champion. “This one coming is more important to me, though, because we did it as a team.”

While listening to the champion explain her routine during a bowling match, it’s easy to see the legitimacy of her team-first sentiments.

Cheramie said she bowls her frame with all of her focus and attention.

She then surveys the rest of the alley to make sure that her teammates are performing well.

“I just make sure that everyone is doing their best,” Cheramie said.

By the time she’s done talking to her teammates and coaches, it’s time for her to bowl her next frame.

Again, she shifts back into “player mode” and gives it her best shot.

“Most of the time, I am bowling my frame, and I have totally forgotten when I did in my last frame,” she said. “When I’m up there, it has my full attention. But when I’m not actually bowling, my attention isn’t on me and my game, it’s on our team.

“This year, I didn’t bowl for myself. I bowled for the team. I was worried about so many other things during a game, and at the bottom of the list is what my score is or how I’m bowling.”

Cheramie finished second place in the individual competition this year. She said she didn’t even realize she was up for the title, while bowling.

“I honestly had no clue,” she said smiling. “I was just focused on the team championship.”

To recap, Cheramie won the individual title as a sophomore. She won the team title as a junior with a runner-up finish in the individual competition.

Is it now time to chase winning both in one year?

That’s Cheramie’s goal for her senior season.

“Everyone tells me that during this time next year, I’ll have four rings,” Cheramie said. “So I guess that’s what I’m going to shoot for. I got one myself last year. We got one together this year.

“I guess the next thing to try and accomplish is getting them both in the same year now. Why not?”

She’s a dancing cheerleader with a black belt

Bowling may be Cheramie’s favorite activity. But it is far from her only craft.

She is also a varsity cheerleader at the school and a dancer.

Cheramie said she’s had a love for performing her whole life.

“That’s something that I love to do,” she said. “I’ve always been involved in dancing since I can remember. I’ve always loved doing it, and it really is one of my favorite things.”

In addition to the three top activities of her life, Cheramie said she also used to be involved in the “in your face” sports as a child.

She said she was a karate student and accelerated through the ranks to earn a black belt.

“I don’t do the contact sports now where you’re trying to tear apart the other person,” she said in laughter. “But I’ve done them before.”

But without question, Cheramie says that bowling is her favorite activity.

She said it’s fun, competitive and somewhat therapeutic within her busy life.

“In dancing and cheerleading, it’s all about working hard for that one performance – that one dance,” Cheramie said. “There’s a lot at stake, and a lot of pressure when that moment comes. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I’ve done it my whole life.

“But bowling is different. Bowling is more laid back. It’s more fun. It’s the only sport I know where you can compete with someone, but you’re talking to them and getting to know them as you do it. I’ve made a ton of new friends through bowling, and I really enjoy it so much. It’s easily my favorite of anything I do.”

She’s a Jill of all trades – accomplished in many teams, clubs and organizations.

But Cheramie is good in the classroom, as well.

Cheramie said amidst the activities that she juggles, she is able to maintain a GPA above 3.0.

She still has 15 whole months before she begins college, but already Cheramie has her mind on the future.

“I really am interested in UL,” she said. “And right now, I’m really interested in hospitality management and stuff like that. I want to do a lot of hands-on stuff.”

But she isn’t willing to write in stone a major just yet.

“What I just told you is how I feel today,” she said. “That can change. I know that. I’m open.”

No matter where Cheramie attends school, she said she’ll continue to bowl – whether competitively in some form of league, or for fun.

Sure, she has a lot to juggle in her active life.

But the strikes, spares, 10 frames, Lucy and the Fruit Loops scent are things she can’t do without.

“I just love it,” Cheramie said. “And right now, bowling for Vandebilt with my friends and everything, it makes it even better. I love the sport. I love our girls.

“It’s a perfect combination.”

Vandebilt Catholic bowler Colleen Cheramie poses for a picture with Lucy – her Fruit Loop scented Lucid bowling ball. Cheramie is a two-time state champion bowler. But she is also a varsity cheerleader and a a dancer. She opened up about all of her bowling ins and outs this week, going through her pre-shot routine and her goals for her senior season. 

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES