BRANDON, Fla. — Strikes are great.

But picking up a spare gives Malayna Calo a true sense of accomplishment.

“It’s just a good feeling,” she said. “Whenever you’re in a tournament and you leave spares and you pick it up, you’re like, alright, onto the next one. It’s just a good feeling.”

What You Need To Know

  • Malayna Calo is a junior on the Bell Creek Academy bowling team

  • She's advanced to five-straight state championships and is going for six in a row this season

  • This past offseason, Malayna was honored by her selection to the Team USA Junior Development program

That’s what bowling does for this Bell Creek Academy junior. It gives her confidence. Bowling is her outlet where she just gets to be herself.

“It’s fun,” Malayna said. “It’s challenging. It’s like a puzzle.”

And more times than not, Malayna solves that puzzle. She’s coming off a sophomore year where she advanced to the state tournament and made it through to the fourth round. She followed that up with a selection to the Team USA Junior Development program. As she’s grown with the game, she’s really made herself at home in a bowling lane.

“It’s a combination of being comfortable but also it being like a pressure situation, which it’s just exhilarating,” she said.

In a sport that is equal parts physical and mental, Malayna works hard on both aspects of her game.

She focuses a lot on her short term memory, especially when it comes to a bad frame.

“You have 10 seconds to be mad at ball and then you just have to move on from it,” Malayna said. “You can’t let it affect you.”

Malayna dreams of playing on the pro tour one day. She’s being recruiting by several Division I programs. So she’s on track to continue bowling at the next level. But first, she’s aiming for her sixth-straight state championship appearance.

“I keep getting better every year and I’m always making the qualifying,” she said. “Being able to stand there with the trophy and with the medal would just mean the world to be.”