By BILL SNIER
PARMA HEIGHTS — Jillian Martin has a simple philosophy to live her life.
“I don’t like to put labels on the past, present or future,” the 22-year-old four-time Professional Women’s Bowling Association champion said Monday. “Every day is a constant pursuit to become the best version of myself.
“Wherever that leads to or whatever I become, as long as I’m happy, that’s all I care about.”
She has a reason to be happy following 16 match-play games during the PWBA Tour Championship at Yorktown Lanes.
Sitting in a tie for fifth after the first eight-game match-play round, Martin went 7-1 in Round 2, her only loss coming to Liz Johnson in her opening match 224-215, to take the overall lead with 3,780 total pinfall.
She is a tourney-best 13-3 overall while averaging 211.88 over 16 games, ranking sixth overall.
“The lanes were rolling a little earlier overall. For me, once I figured out I could get farther left, I was able to play into that,” the Stow right-hander and Team USA member said. “I still had a little bit of struggle in the middle, but I was able to stay close enough to win matches.
“It was a little bit of luck and little bit of skill and it worked out well. In this format, you can be centered on wins and losses, but you have to be centered on how you are bowling. It’s a hard mental balance while trying to make the best shots you can.”
While completing her senior season at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and fulfilling her Team USA commitments, Martin has been on a whirlwind tour since October 2025 when the college season started.
She started the college season, then went to Hong Kong with Team USA in November, followed by Team USA trials in January, back to school to complete the collegiate season until April and then bowling nine of 11 events on the PWBA Tour with a second major win at the U.S. Women’s Open in June.
There was a break for the PWBA Tour between the Open and PWBA Tour Championship Week of about seven weeks, which was a benefit to Martin (she did not participate in the PBA-PWBA mixed doubles).
“Physically, it’s definitely better. Some things just work better collegiately that don’t work on Tour,” said Martin, who didn’t bowl the first two events of the PWBA season with finals and graduation. “I didn’t fully have a lot of time to get myself back into a Tour mindset.
“It was definitely a struggle at the beginning. Going into the Open I put in a lot of practice and hard work and a few things went my way. It was nice to have the break before this. I feel like I put in a lot of work and I’m just more confident.
“Some of the same old habits that show up … I put in a whole lot of work to try and fix those and stay patient.”
And it also was a time to reset after a busy nine months.
“Having that break and taking some time off, having some fun and being me and who I am outside of bowling … the reset helped,” said Martin, who spent time “hanging out” at the pool and with family.
She will pursue a master’s degree in clinical mental health at Bradley (Ill.) University.
“When I was in college I was going for pre-physician assistant, but I felt like I couldn’t make that fully work because bowling is so demanding,” Martin said. “With this path, I can balance classes on-line with a practicum in person. But I can be free to travel, do the things I want to do and compete as much as I want. I wanted that freedom.”
Will she miss the college game?
“To some degree, I’ll miss a lot of the interactions and moments with my teammates,” Martin added. “But taking off the mental load of having to compete almost every other weekend during college, I can focus on my game and certain things.
“With college, it can be hard to work on smaller things like versatility — throwing it fast, not having to throw it slow, use more rotation. It will help prepare me to be a better all-around bowler.”
There also is another milestone hanging out there this week for Martin — completion of the PWBA’s modern Triple Crown. Since the relaunch in 2016, the majors have included the U.S. Women’s Open, USBC Queens and the Tour Championship. Martin can complete it with a win in this event, having won the Queens on 2024.
“I’m not going to lie … it’s something I’ve thought about. But I’ll just let things work out the way they work and go compete at my best to put myself in position to do that,” Martin said. “It would be incredible … something out of this world at this age.
“But I just want to go out and be me and see what happens.”
ALSO IN THE RUNNING: Lauren Russo, who held the lead for a game Monday, is just 15 pins behind Martin (3,765), followed by Cleveland Open champion Shayna Ng (3,742); first-round leader Diana Zavjalova (3,727), who was reached the final four of the Pepsi Open; and Maria Jose Bohr (3,710), who finished fifth in the Cleveland Open but chose not bowl the Pepsi Open in favor of resting.
BATTLE FOR POY: Singapore’s New Hui Fen clearly is the favorite to capture her second straight PWBA Player of the Year award, which is based on season points. New is ninth overall with 3,603 and leads the points list with 88,650. Jordan Snodgrass, who was runner-up in the Cleveland Open to Ng but missed the cut to the top 16 in the Pepsi Open by 10 pins, is second with 81,175. The only way New’s run can be stopped is if Snodgrass would win the Tour Championship and New would finish below third.
OTHER HONORS: First-place in the Tour Championship pays $30,000, which sets several players up to claim the earnings crown. Li Jane Sin leads with $72,520, but Martin is fourth ($66,580). Martin made match play in the Cleveland Open and cashed in the Pepsi Open. … New also leads in average at 218.3, followed by Snodgrass (217.68). … Seo Yeon Ryu already has won Rookie of the Year honors with 41,920 points, with Morgan Kramer far back in second (22,275).