The next time you run across Joliet West graduate Taylor Bailey, make sure not to wake her up.

The dream she is living is spectacular.

“It’s crazy to think about how much has happened in the last two years,” the McKendree University sophomore said. “It feels like I am going to wake up from a dream and it’s all going to be over.”

Or, there may be more to come.

Bailey is a regular on the McKendree women’s bowling team. That alone puts her among the elite young bowlers in the nation.

She was a leader on the Joliet West girls team that was coached by her dad, Jeff Bailey, and won the IHSA state championship in February 2016.

“Our state championship with my dad coaching us will always be a special memory,” Bailey said.

Last April, during her freshman year at McKendree, she and her teammates won the NCAA tournament championship in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, beating Nebraska in the best-of-seven title match to claim the first NCAA national title for McKendree in any sport. A mere seven days later, the Bearcats were back in Baton Rouge annexing the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team championship.

“It was amazing to go through something so emotional as winning one national title, then have to come back down and then go win another one the next week,” Bailey said.

“It was fun that both tournaments ended Sunday with the taping of the TV show. I was fortunate enough to bowl the whole time, and honestly, I thought I would be more nervous than I was. I made the NCAA All-Tournament Team and the ITP All-Tournament Team, too.”

The NCAA championship earned the Bearcats a trip to Washington, D.C.

“We got to meet the president and take a tour of the West Wing of the White House,” Bailey said. “All the D-I championship teams (18 in total) were there. To see the White House and meet the president was an experience. It was really great to get a chance to go around and see D.C., the monuments, the war memorials, all that stuff.”

When will the whirlwind end? Apparently no time soon.

Earlier this month, during the winter break in McKendree’s schedule, Bailey journeyed to Las Vegas to participate in tryouts for the Junior Team USA, and she made the 10-member girls team.

“The Junior Team USA was a week ago, and it still seems like yesterday,” Bailey said. “We had a practice day Tuesday in Vegas on all the different lane patterns. We then bowled six games each day on the different patterns, and then they ranked us.”

Anyone can participate in the trials.

“There were professionals there, too,” Bailey said. “It was cool to have them bowling with us. There was a Team USA Trials and a U.S. amateur portion going on.

“The top four make the team automatically. You send in resumes and coaches and officials look at how you perform and at your resume. You let them know what your best achievements are in the sport. They select up to three in team trials, and the final ones are added in summer tournaments.”

Back to the present.

Bailey, who is majoring in health and wellness, and her McKendree teammates were in Arkansas for a tournament last weekend as their season resumed. The Bearcats began the season ranked No. 1 and were No. 2 in a recent poll, as Nebraska grabbed the top spot.

“For sure, we are out to build on what we accomplished last year,” Bailey said. “It’s sad to think this is the last year this team will be together.”

What are the requirements to make the two big tournaments in April?

“For the NCAA, you need to be ranked in the top four, and then they take four conference champions,” Bailey said. “The ITC has sectionals and the top two or three teams come out of each sectional. There are 24 teams in all that make that tournament.”

As talented as the McKendree roster is, Bailey has been in the mix since early on.

“It was pretty exciting as a freshman,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to make varsity. Tryouts were scary. It was very gratifying to get on varsity.

“I did not exactly bowl a lot the first semester. I loved watching the team and cheering them on. I got to bowl more the second semester. It’s actually a relief that everyone on our team is so talented. That has helped me.”

This season, Bailey is a regular. Whatever the bowling gods have in store for her, it will be difficult to top what she already has experienced.

“It’s crazy to think that every year I have been able to accomplish something special,” she said. “It’s tough to follow.”

Bailey said she averaged around 210 a game in the fall.

“I want to top it, increase it, in the spring,” she said. “Sometimes that’s hard because you could have a tournament at any time where you just don’t have it.”

Of course, there can be times when you do have it. And sometimes, national championships and visits to the White House and Washington, D.C. can happen.

Just don’t wake her up from her dream.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.