ARLINGTON, Texas - The United States Olympic Committee today announced the finalists for the annual USOC Coach of the Year awards and the bowling industry is well-represented.

Fresno State men's bowling coach Chris Preble is a finalist for Volunteer Coach of the Year and, for the second consecutive year, Nicholas Bohanan, the sports performance specialist for the United States Bowling Congress, has been named a finalist for the Doc Counsilman Science Award.

Preble and Bohanan are among the final three in their respective divisions. The recipients of the awards will be announced during a welcome reception June 19 as part of the 2012 National Coaching Conference at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis.

Preble directed the Fresno State men's bowling team to its first national championship in 2011. In his spare time, Preble provided voluntary instruction at the Bowl for Kids Sake program in Fresno, Calif., to help inspire up-and-coming bowlers to compete at the collegiate level.
 
A USBC bronze level coach, Preble is respected as a key focal point within the collegiate bowling community and serves as a member of the USBC Collegiate Advisory Council. In this role, Preble is charged with providing a valuable sounding board for the National Governing Body while helping make decisions to impact the sport of bowling across the nation.

Utilizing the functional movement screen and balance testing, Bohanan enhanced the ability to evaluate athletic performance and mechanics, thus greatly decreasing the potential for injury to athletes. The screen and testing provided the ability to determine and describe the strength and limitations in physical game capabilities, as well as provide corrective exercises to improve movement patterns and reduce the risk of bowling-related injuries.

Bohanan, who serves as the athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach for Team USA bowling, also teamed with colleagues at the International Training and Research Center to develop a talent-identification protocol to help collegiate coaches analyze and recruit high school bowlers.

U.S. Olympic and Pan American sports organizations selected their 2011 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program. The finalists in each category were chosen by a panel of coaching and sport education professionals.

The 2011 finalists:

National Coach of the Year
Rick Bower - Snowboarding
Adam Soldati - Diving
Marina Zouvea - Figure Skating

Paralympic Coach of the Year
Joaquim Cruz - Track and Field
Dave Denniston - Swimming
Matt Oberholtz - Water Skiing

Developmental Coach of the Year
Chris Haslock - Skiing
James Hrbek - Judo
Jill Rankin Schneider - Basketball

Volunteer Coach of the Year
Jimmy Cuevas - Paralympic Track and Field
Chris Preble - Bowling
Tom Waqa - Rugby

Doc Counsilman Science Award
Nicholas Bohanan - Bowling
Neal Henderson - Cycling
Christine Krall - Figure Skating