ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Forget the fact she bowls nearly 50 games a week and competes in tournaments nearly every weekend for Lindenwood University.

What does Megan Paul do in her spare time? Jump in a car and drive for four hours.

To bowl some more.

And the Butler graduate made the trip worthwhile.

Paul, a freshman on the third-ranked Lindenwood University bowling team, recently won the Junior Gold qualifier at Arena Lanes in Oak Lawn, Ill. She picked up $400 in scholarship money, a jersey and bowling ball for the victory.

She also gained entrance into the Junior Gold national tournament July 18-23 in Indianapolis.

“That’s the main reason I went,” Paul said. “I wanted to get into that tournament.”

Paul topped a field of 15 girls in her division. She rolled a 1,051 series for five games — a 210 average — before rolling games of 222, 203 and 243 in the eliminator rounds. Four bowlers made the eliminator round, the one with the lowest score eliminated after each game.

In addition, Paul has cracked the top 10 on Lindenwood’s bowling roster and has competed in traveling tournaments with the team as a freshman.

“There’s only one other freshman in our top 10,” Lindenwood coach Phil Vida said. “The transition from high school to college bowling can be an arduous task.

“Figuring out oil patterns, ball motion, the technical aspects of the game — Megan got well ahead of the learning curve pretty quick. I’m not surprised, though. She was an accomplished bowler coming in here.”

Paul won the Pennsylvania individual singles title her senior year in high school. She was a sophomore starter on the Golden Tornado team that claimed the state title in 2013.

Majoring in international business, she said she came to Lindenwood “to chase a national championship.

“But graduating is obviously the No. 1 goal,” Paul quickly added.

Vida said Paul’s desire to improve has fueled her success in collegiate bowling. She is averaging 184 for Lindenwood.

“We compete on very difficult (oil) patterns,” he said. “But Megan is one of few players I’ve seen with a real thirst for knowledge of the sport. She soaks up as much information as she can.”

There are four collegiate sectional bowling tournaments in the country. The top four teams at each advance to the nationals April 11-13 in Wichita, Kan.

“We don’t know which sectional we’ll be assigned to yet,” Paul said. “I’m just hoping to be one of the (eight) bowlers going. I know I’m on the bubble for that.”

The Lindenwood team practices three days a week. Paul goes out on her own another two to four days each week for further practice.

“Our men’s bowling coach owns our local house (St. Charles Lanes), so we’re lucky that way,” she said. “Any of us can go over there at any time and if there’s any open lanes, we can get in practice time.

“I rarely bowl alone when I go. Someone else from the team is almost always over there.”

And, rest assured, Megan Paul will continue to educate herself on bowling as well as doing her work in the classroom.

“When I was in high school, I always wanted to forge out on my own and learn as much as I could,” she said. “I’m still learning as I go. There’s a lot more information out there.”