A conference and NAIA Scholar-Athlete. A United States Bowling Conference Sectional Qualifier. A Presidential Innovation Award winner.

The above accomplishments are what most students could only dream of over an entire academic career.

That, however, is what Shawnee State men's bowler Parker Lauders has accomplished in less than three full years on campus.

A rising star who holds a 3.86 GPA in the field of computer engineering technology and has the highest grade point average on a men's bowling roster who just had a program record six NAIA Scholar-Athlete honorees, Lauders is, simply put, a winner already.

Lauders, however, says that Shawnee State's ability to allow him to represent the university as a student and as an athlete is what allows the Mount Orab product to extend himself to the best of his abilities.

"Being able to represent SSU not just as a student but also as an athlete has allowed me to contribute to our school's thriving path," Lauders said. "As an athlete, I am a representative of the university. This has allowed me to hold myself to higher standards than I would have if I had been solely a student. This experience has rapidly accelerated my personal growth, teamwork, and leadership skills, which have helped prepare me as a student for future challenges and successes while also allowing me to participate in things I am passionate about both inside and outside of sports."

Bowling, which has been a well-known sport and a sport that may have enjoyed as an activity in their spare time, has been featured on ESPN to millions around the United States – with individuals like Pete Weber and Norm Duke carrying much of the spotlight in helping grow the game.

However, bowling, in terms of participation, never really picked up on a serious level at high schools and universities outside of a club scale.

Behind the leadership of various committed bowling hands within the state realm, including Western Brown High School bowling coach Chad Sexton, that began to change.

This, in turn, opened the door for individuals like Lauders to participate on the high school scene. Lauders' first year involved with the sport in a competitive form was in eighth grade – when Western Brown started its own varsity bowling team for the first time at the high school level.

Sexton, nearly overnight, began contributing to the success of serious bowling talents that have since contributed to great successes in their future paths.

Austin Grammar, a three-time Southern Buckeye Academic and Athletic Conference (SBAAC) Player of the Year, started the pipeline by signing with fellow NAIA member Webber International out of Florida, becoming a 2023 ITC National Semifinalist individually at Webber before helping the institution win a ITC National Championship in 2024 – but Lauders, a two-time First-Team SBAAC honoree, continued it.

In Lauders' final three seasons of high school competition, the skilled bowler led Western Brown to a 46-10 overall record as the Broncos went 13-3, 19-3 and 14-4 in back-to-back-to-back seasons. Lauders posted a top-20 average in each of his final three seasons at Western Brown, and after a stark amount of improvement that featured an Ohio State Youth Singles Runner-Up finish in 2020, finished fifth and 10th, respectively, in pins per game average in his final pair of campaigns with the Broncos.

From his freshman year to his senior year of high school, Lauders improved his pins per game average by nearly 40 pins en route to becoming a multi-time All-SBAAC selection. 

"Thanks to his (Sexton's) help and mentoring on mental capabilities, I have been able to push myself to new boundaries while being able to develop myself mentally into the person I am today," Lauders said. "The never-ending requirement of dedication and hard work has allowed me to apply those exact requirements to my studies, allowing me to better thrive as a student. In turn, this upholding has also pushed me to stand out in my degree industry, improving my work both on and off the lanes."

Beyond his work on the lanes, Lauders was already showing early initiative at Western Brown. According to Lauders, Andy Creighton, an engineering teacher in the school district, helped Lauders get more involved in technology and engineering, as Lauders participated in various projects from helping the local SWAT team with one of their robotics to turning one of the school's $40,000 robotic arms into a burger-making robot.

"My initial introduction to computer engineering-related items in high school led me to pick it up as a hobby," Lauders said. "From there, I was able to transfer a hobby I loved into a future career. The combination of hardware design and the ability to program means that I can bring any idea I have to life in some form or another. This programming skill also allowed me to take jobs in software, especially with the latest boom in AI, which are jobs that will be around for many years."

Despite those projects, and knocking out college requirements as a College Credit Plus (CCP) student, Lauders, however, admitted that he didn't really begin to hit his stride, in terms of work ethic, until he got introduced to Shawnee State by SSU men's and women's bowling head coach Bryan Sturgell. With Shawnee State, Lauders was drawn to the family atmosphere that had been established by Sturgell and his wife, Jani, as well as the friendly teacher-to-student ratio that Shawnee State possesses.

"Coming from CCP classes with typically 25 students per class, this felt close to what I was already used to and enjoyed," Lauders said. "After the informational part of the tour, I was given a campus tour. During the campus tour, the campus item that stood out the most was the ATC (Advanced Technology Center) building. As someone who has always liked technology, seeing how the University had set up a structure to allow these technology-based degrees to advance and accelerate compared to other universities sold me on Shawnee."

Over the first three years of his college career, Lauders, to say the least, has adjusted to college life quite well. In earning his 3.86 GPA, Lauders has only earned two grades worse than an A, and bowling-wise, Lauders has finished inside the top-30 overall as an individual in five different events already, all while contributing to the bowling program's first three event victories – including triumphs at the Greater Pittsburgh Collegiate Classic in back-to-back seasons as well as a win in the first Western Pennsylvania Baker Classic.

Those accomplishments, however, are just the tip of the iceberg for Lauders.

In less than three years' time, Lauders presented at the Shawnee State University Celebration of Scholarship – where he published an abstract on the University Digital Commons page – met with Ohio State Senators to discuss grants for advancing university labs, and was a presenter at TechFest 2024, where Lauders showcased a self-driving power wheels car.

At the same TechFest 2024 event, Lauders helped the event achieve record attendance as an organizer, while also monitoring membership status and planning and conducting meetings as part of being Vice President of the University Computer Society's Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Chapter.

Additionally, Lauders is spearheading a grant-funded project to enhance coaching techniques by integrating AI and robotics in a project that is titled "Development and Implementation of Smart Robot Assistant Swimming Coach." The project, which Lauders is the lead researcher on, was completed in December 2024.

He's also been active in the workforce outside of SSU grounds, serving as a Hand Assembler for Spectra-Tech Manufacturing in Batavia over two consecutive summers before landing a remote software developer position with DataAnnotation in the Cincinnati area – and has landed a Summer 2025 internship with The J.M. Smucker Company, which Lauders will join their 2025 Summer Internship Program as an information services developer intern. To top it off, Lauders is scheduled to present at the State Capitol in Columbus for the 2025 Choose Ohio First Scholar Showcase, which is being held in April.

These accomplishments, at just barely over 20 years of age, made Lauders an ideal choice to receive the Presidential Award for Innovation – which Lauders said was a humbling honor that rejuvenated him after feeling like he was hitting an inevitable wall.

For receiving the honor, which was officially announced at the 2024 Installation Ceremony and Community Awards that primarily honored Shawnee State University President Eric Braun, Lauders thanked his loved ones, his friends, his teammates and the Sturgells, JT Ok, Assistant Professor, Engineering Technologies and Ted Kosan, Associate Professor, Engineering Technologies, for their belief in him.

"Several teachers and students have helped me develop to where I am today," Lauders said. "My primary source of this comes from the people I have surrounded myself with. I have a girlfriend who pushes me on the days I feel unmotivated, and I have a group of friends and roommates who allow me to easily balance my social and academic life. Off-campus, my parents and family continuously show their love and support at each step of my education. These people push me to what they know I am capable of, especially in times of failure. I have also been taught by several great teachers who have challenged me and aided me outside of academics. Dr. Ok has allowed me to work on a research project for the university and has allowed me to be his supplemental instructor for many of his classes. Ted Kosan has been the biggest supporter of the projects I have created or is working on, whether telling me how I can improve or allowing me to bounce ideas off him for what he thinks of my several ideas when I cannot decide. The support from the bowling team and the coaches, not only the men's side but also the women's, is a big confidence booster, and I know I have a group of people rallying behind me. Winning the Presidential Award for Innovation could not have happened at a better time. This happened right when I started to lose motivation, a defeat several students and student-athletes have but never speak of. Being a student alone is tough, but adding athletics is far from being icing on top of the cake. Combining these is not for the lighthearted; it requires strong motivation and drive. But sometimes, especially towards the end of the school year, when summer is in reach, this is lost. I could feel myself starting to slow down when I received the email that I was awarded this honor. This award allowed me to lose this feeling and recap why I do what I do daily, giving me the motivation booster I needed at the most critical time, which has since boosted me to accelerate myself in several ways."

While Lauders longs for more in terms of accomplishments for his own bowling career, the high-achiever helped the Shawnee State men's bowling program accomplish a feat that had only been done once before in its history – advance to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Sectionals. The men's bowling program finished 54th in the country to make an appearance at that level – while the women's bowling program, who also made its second appearance in program history, finished even higher – at 46th.

This season, it appears that Lauders will be among the first SSU bowling athletes to accomplish the feat in back-to-back seasons – as Lauders leads a promising group that continues to thrive. The men's bowling program, in particular, lost just one senior (Tyler Roberts) from the 2024 season and loses only one senior (Sam Clay) from the 2025 iteration of the unit – giving Shawnee State an excellent ceiling and floor in years ahead.

"While my college bowling career hasn't been what I would want it to be on a personal level from a performance standpoint, I couldn't be more proud of where we are as a team, or how my teammates are progressing," Lauders said. "In the end, that is truly what matters. From entering on a fresh team after losing most of our varsity players to making the USBC sectionals on both sides this year is incredible. The dedication from our team the last two years was unlike any that I had ever seen. We pushed ourselves to be the best we could, and that push brought us our first program win and a sectional bid, which we hope can become a yearly thing. I am proud to be part of the program and am excited to see how the upcoming season looks, as well as the progress that we can make in future seasons."

Regardless of how the future plays out, it is clear that Parker Lauders is primed for large amounts of success in the future – due to a mentality that has been fostered through being a student-athlete.

"The hard work and the desire to always get better and be the best I can be in bowling easily transferred to my academics," Lauders said. "In bowling, there are so many different skilled players from around the world. And just like in bowling, the same is true for my career. This requires me to be just as competitive off the lanes as I must be on them. The desire to be the best I can be and to continuously push myself has never been higher; with internships and jobs, I must be the best. The mindset I have gained from my academic career has also allowed me to carry this over into bowling. The knowledge that there is someone, somewhere who will also be better than you, whether they are chosen over me for an internship or outscored me for a tournament, pushes me to better myself so next time, I am better prepared to compete."

As his college career enters the back set of frames, Lauders is looking for results that would be the epitome of bowling a 300 game – or at least a reality that is as close to those standards as possible.

With over 95 hours of academic credit already and a strong drive to succeed as evidenced by his early experiences, the work that Lauders has put in to begin his career certainly has the talented individual among the main pacers in the lead pack of rising standouts not only at Shawnee State University, but in the State of Ohio as a whole.

"My main goal is to finish my degree with the highest GPA I can and to allow myself to get ahead of my competition and land a good starting position job at a company I will enjoy," Lauders said. "Regarding bowling, I hope to continue to bowl tournaments and compete with great bowlers. I also hope to coach a team as I have gone through USBC training to coach at the high school level and plan to advance this to the next level of coaching, the college level."