BETHANY, Okla.—The Southern Nazarene University Athletic Department is proud to announce the addition of Men's and Women's Bowling to its current list of varsity sports. In addition to the announcement of adding the sport, SNU Director of Athletics Danny Thomason also announced the hiring of Mark Jeffreys as the first Men's and Women's Bowling Head Coach.

The Crimson Storm will compete in the USBC (United State Bowling Congress) where they will battle against universities across the country, including schools like Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Louisiana State, Nebraska, and Stephen F. Austin. Southern Nazarene joins Oklahoma Christian and Oklahoma State as the only Oklahoma schools with a bowling program. The first Southern Nazarene bowling team will begin competition in fall 2023.

Coach Jeffreys comes to Southern Nazarene from Blanchard High School, where he will continue to teach and coach for the next year, while also recruiting for the SNU Bowling team. This will be his sixth year coaching basketball at Blanchard High School. During his time, he has guided his teams to two state qualifiers, as well as 2 state academic championships.

"I am very excited and honored to be selected as the new Head Bowling Coach at Southern Nazarene University and to be a part of starting the SNU program from the ground up," said Jeffreys. "I am grateful that SNU Athletic Director, Danny Thomason and SNU President, Dr. Keith Newman, have given me the opportunity to lead our student athletes not only in collegiate bowling, but to the mission and values of SNU. I look forward to putting together a highly successful program built around family, faith, and education. There is a Crimson Storm coming in the collegiate bowling world and I can't wait for the 2023 season to arrive."

Prior to his time at Blanchard, Jeffreys created his own media company, Z3, and worked as a lay coach at multiple schools.

Jeffreys brings an abundance of bowling experience to Southern Nazarene. He has been a member of the PBA for 31 years and a Youth Bowling Coach for 15 years. He has won 22 local and regional titles and was a past member of the Greater Los Angeles Junior All Stars, the most prestigious youth bowling league in the US.

"You only have to spend a few minutes with Mark Jeffreys to realize his passion for creating a top tier collegiate bowling program," said SNU Director of Athletics, Danny Thomason. "We are so excited he has made the choice to realize his dream here at Southern Nazarene University. I am confident we will be ready to compete in both Men and Women's Bowling at a high level in Fall 2023."

Jeffreys graduated from the University of Oklahoma. He enjoys fishing and was nominated for the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame for his journalistic work. He is married to his wife, Caroline. They have two boys, Mark and Aaron.