Fresno State Bowling Bulldogs will take a look into the past tonight as part of the 40-year anniversary celebration of the University Student Union (USU).

Players, past and present, will come together to honor the late coach Glen Carlson for his contributions to the Bowling Bulldogs and the USU.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the USU and will include a tribute to Coach Carlson, scholarship presentations and the Baker Team Challenge tournament.

First year head coach Chris Preble and his team look forward to honoring Carlson. They have established a Glen Carlson endowment which will award two students with a $500 scholarship.

“I think it was always [Glen’s] goal to establish scholarships for collegiate bowlers,â€Â Preble said.

Preble took over Carlson̢۪s position as head coach this year, and has a long history of working with Carlson by bowling for him at Fresno State from 1985-1989.

Preble and the Bowling Bulldogs are working hard this year to make it to the Nationals. They have placed in every tournament that they have competed in so far.

“The national championship has become an expectation at this program that we will be representing collegiate bowling at the national level,â€Â Preble said.

“We have had some really good groups of kids come through here,â€Â Preble said. “We’ve been blessed with talent and really good solid kids.â€Â

Preble and the Bowling Bulldogs have a huge season ahead of them with several tournaments and fundraisers to help support their team.

This season, Nationals will be held in Rockford, Ill. April 15-18, 2009.

Preble expects his team to be very competitive at Nationals. “When you’re really competitive, it’s like the frosting on the cake,â€Â Preble said.

“The experience of going [to Nationals] is lifetime memory,â€Â Preble said. “These kids will remember that experience.â€Â

Returning Bulldog bowler, Paul Hogan, is hopeful that the team will make it to Nationals.

Hogan, a psychology major, had the opportunity to bowl under Carlson during his first year on the team.

“Glen Carlson coached here for a lot a lot of years,â€Â Hogan said. “And a lot of people went through his program and came out better bowlers and better people,â€Â Hogan said. “[Glen] definitely helped me, and was a really nice man.â€Â