By Jaydn James
ncataggies.com student intern
EAST GREENSBORO -- Senior North Carolina A&T bowler Cristina Acosta (Carolina, Puerto Rico) already had the sport of bowling in her bloodline. Acosta's parents met through bowling. Her grandfather has a bowling alley in Puerto Rico called Carolina Bowling. All of her father's family members bowl.
Acosta even got the bowling experience firsthand before she was born. Her mother bowled while she was pregnant with Acosta. Acosta went from helping her mom knock down pins in the womb to playing for the A&T bowling team, averaging 182 pins over her career.
Acosta's father is Puerto Rican, and her mother is Panamanian. Even though Acosta says that Panama feels more like home, she claims both nationalities when asked where her origins lie. Acosta often speaks of her gratitude for her parents because they supported her throughout her bowling experience.
They have been around for her most notable moments, including winning an individual medal with the Panamanian national team. Acosta says her father wanted her to bowl for the Puerto Rican national team, yet he supported her success with the Panamanian team. 
Both parents have also enjoyed and cheered on her career at A&T. It is a career that has included an NCAA appearance, and last season the Aggies were the national runner-up at the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) championships. Acosta has also competed for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship twice, winning once.
Acosta and Aggies bowling will compete in the UMES Hawk Classic, hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore, Nov. 19-21, in Millsboro, Del. The Aggies head into the tournament 25-9 overall. A&T bowling coach Kim Terrell-Kearney calls Acosta's presence on the team indescribable and invaluable.
"Now she's one of the first ones that I can call on when anything needs to get done," said Terrell-Kearney, the reigning MEAC coach of the year. "She's turned into my most reliable leader on the team. She wants to lead; she wants to be there to make sure we're doing it the way we need to, to be successful."
Acosta says she came to AggieLand because Terrell-Kearney coached there. She also had a love at first sight experience with A&T. "I really liked the campus, but the program has to have a big impact for you to stay," said Acosta. "Coming to visit and being shown around, I fell in love with A&T instantly."
Acosta recorded her highest finish in the 2019-2020 season, a seventh-place finish at the MEAC Meet. Acosta had a strike percentage of 41.3 and a spare percentage of 58.2.
"I don't think we're as successful a program without her because she sets the standard of what it is to be a good teammate," said Terrell-Kearney. "Whether she's in the game or not, she is the first one there to Hi-five, to encourage, and to make her teammates feel present."
Spare Time
On top of bowling collegiately for A&T and nationally for Panama, Acosta still makes time to have an impact off the alley. Acosta runs A&T women's bowling's Instagram page. On that account, Acosta gives exclusive content of the team's activity before and after tournaments.
"I love it," Acosta said about managing the page. "I get to help other people know more about us. I love when people ask about each of us because we all have different nationalities."
Acosta, a marketing major, has had previous experience with social media management, which has its advantages.
"I had to use social media a lot to sell things, so I have a lot of knowledge about managing social media so that we can attract the market. That experience helped when it came to me managing the social media page and creating content."
Biggest Lesson
Acosta has grown up with bowling, and the great thing about it is, bowling has helped her grow as a person.
"Personally, mentally, physically. I take my workouts very seriously," said Acosta. "I always try to take the extra mile. I feel like giving the extra mile to be successful in bowling also helps me realize that I need to give the extra mile to everything I do in life."
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