JONESBORO, Ark. — Justine Brookover, Tyra Sanchez and Haley Youker already have a jumpstart on the second half of the Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling season.
 
The trio of Lady Railsplitters took on the Team USA Trials in Las Vegas, wrapping up play Tuesday before heading back to Harrogate to gear up for their first competition this semester in the Mid-Winter Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark.
 
No. 15 LMU will be among the field of seven top-10 and 12 top-25 teams in the country at the three-day event, starting with five total five-game baker matches at 12:20 p.m. Friday, five traditional team games at 10:40 a.m. Saturday and the best-of-7 bracket matches at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
 
"It's mentally exhausting. It's a grind," LMU Director of Bowling Joseph Slowinski said of Brookover, Sanchez and Youker competing. "They've put down competitive conditions that challenges everyone you have. You have Hall of Fame women, professional women bowling side-by-side that gives you both long-term motivation and an encouragement to work harder. Certainly, coming off of that, the three of them going through that process is really exciting and something that's really, really positive.
 
"You need to take advantage of that and transition into team mode and that'll always be the challenge. Getting back into that competitive team mode is something that will be very important in the weekend to get back into our routines and habits and move forward from there."
 
The likes of the top-ranked teams — No. 1 McKendree, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Arkansas St., No. 5 Sam Houston St., No. 6 Tulane, No. 10 Stephan F. Austin, No. 14 Louisiana Tech, No. 20 University of Alabama Birmingham, No. 22 Maryville University and No. 24 Central Missouri — pose no surprises since the Lady Railsplitters have faced all of them in the first half of the semester. On Friday, the Lady Railsplitters are paired up with No. 1 McKendree, No. 4 Arkansas St., No. 5 Sam Houston St along with Drury and Alabama State.
 
The key is just doing what the LMU women have this season behind their routines and habits, as Slowinski hinted to above, and remaining humble through a highly competitive slate of opponents.

It's in those ways the Lady Railsplitters are preparing for the East Coast Conference Tournament as the reigning champs, which is less than 70 days away as the second half of the 2018-19 season gets underway in Arkansas.
 
"When you are always bowling good teams, you will stay humble," Slowinski said. "We could have a schedule that would mean a lot more wins, but that doesn't prepare us to be at our best in the conference championship or in the NCAA Tournament. What's going to us best then is to bowl the best teams every tournament that we can. No. 1, we know what it takes to be the best and the top of the country, and at the same time, we will be humble because we will always be in a fight and it's not taken for granted.
 
"We aren't going out there and beating teams we are better than just because — that makes no sense to me. It's not our philosophy. I think the big that is we've scheduled very strong from day one and that helps us be ready."