By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

The Purdue bowling team is rolling on to the national tournament for the first time in the event's 26-year history.

"Our guys are really excited because they know that no Purdue men's bowling team has ever gone to nationals," said Purdue bowling coach Brian Pechia. "They can't wait to get there, even though it means spending 12 hours in a van."

The six-man team left at 5 p.m. Tuesday for Wichita, Kan., and will arrive in time for a Wednesday night banquet. They will have plenty of time to rest before competition begins Thursday and continues through Sunday with the finals being taped for television.

The Boilers will bowl 32 games in the first two days and be seeded from 1-16 according to how they perform.

The team scores are not based on individual performances. The national tournament uses the Baker system of bowling, which means five players must each bowl two frames to equal the 10 frames for each game.

"We're considered one of the top eight teams in the nation when it comes to Baker bowling," said Pechia. "We can throw the strikes, but we're more of a spare-shooting team, and that makes us much more competitive."

Ed Smaglik, a first-year graduate student in construction engineering, said he thinks the team has a very good chance of placing high.

The expressway route to Wichita will not be the only road the Boilers will have traveled by the time they arrive.

The Boilers qualified for nationals by being one of the 64 teams invited to one of four sectionals. The Boilers made the field of 64 with ease.

The team was ranked 11th in the last Bowling Writers' Association of America poll. The poll comes out three times a year. In November, Purdue attained the highest ranking in the team's 30-plus year history, coming in at No. 8 and dropping to No. 13 in January before jumping two spots in last week's poll to their current position.

"Never has Purdue been ranked in all three," said Pechia. "I think that's quite a feat."

Purdue was No. 12 in the national power rankings, which are based on points accumulated throughout the year from tournaments.

The Boilers could have gone to Lexington, Ky., Indianapolis, Las Vegas or Denver and landed in Lexington.

"They try to keep the men's and women's teams together," said Pechia, who coaches both teams. "But I'm glad we went to Lexington because Indianapolis was a lot tougher competition."

Purdue's men were seeded third and finished third behind Erie County (New York) Community College and the nation's No. 1 team, St. John's. Purdue's women, who made the national tournament before, including three years ago, weren't seeded and didn't advance.

"It's been our goal to go to nationals all year long," said Smaglik. "Now we need to take it to another level."