Landen Miller’s first memories of bowling are fond ones.

His great grandmother regularly took him to the bowling alley and, afterwards, out to eat, typically to Burger King so he could play.

Those outings planted the seeds of Miller’s love for bowling.

“It’s definitely something I enjoyed doing right away,” the La Salle-Peru senior said. “My great grandma would take me and that would be our getting out. It was me and her, and eventually my sister going with us. It helped me enjoy the game more and more.

“It was just bonding time. We’d always go out to eat afterwards. It’s just something I always looked forward to and eventually grew into liking bowling and making it a sport I played every day.”

While the outings with his great grandmother helped him develop a passion for bowling, his father, Jeff, helped him develop his skills on the lane.

“I always looked up to him as a good bowler,” Landen Miller said. “I tried to push myself to beat him. I always had him teach me.”

Miller said “it’s close” between his dad and him, but he beat most high school bowlers he went against this season.

He averaged 225.3 points, rolled two 700-plus series (including a high of 716), bowled only four games under 200 and had a high game of 268 and tied for first in the Interstate 8 Conference season final standings despite missing the conference tournament because of L-P’s COVID-19-outbreak pause.

For all he accomplished this season, Landen Miller is the 2021 NewsTribune Boys Bowler of the Year.

Miller also claimed the award in the 2019-20 season.

“It was good,” Landen Miller said. “I fell a little bit short of where I was hoping to be, but overall, the team did well and I felt like I did well. With COVID in the mix, it was still a pretty good season.”

Landen Miller upped his average by 12 pins from last season, which his father, who is the L-P bowling coach, attributed to consistency, improved speed and increased rev rate.

“What we noticed going from junior year to senior year was him getting bigger and stronger,” Jeff Miller said. “His rev rate and speed went up. His carry was more. Everything was more. I know he was excited about getting up into those higher speeds and being able to power through some shots.”

Jeff Miller said Landen was able to harness the speed and rev rate and use it to improve thanks to his form.

“Even before high school, we always made sure he stuck with the fundamentals and had an understanding of it,” Jeff Miller said. “He understood the process and that it’ll come. It’s still about form and him staying true to form and understanding the process has helped him.”

Landen Miller said he worked on consistency by “playing down the first arrow so many times at practice trying to make sure I could get the same mark over and over,” and also focused on picking up spares and practiced by doing half a game with 10 pins and half a game with seven pins.

“I definitely worked on spares a lot because I felt like that was my one problem last year,” Landen Miller said. “I was missing spares and that was pulling me down a little bit.

“I just pushed myself to practice spares and be consistent at them. I made sure I kept my head up when I missed a spare every once in a while.”

Landen Miller hopes to continue his growth as he takes the next step in his career at the University of Northwestern Ohio, an NAIA school located in Lima, Ohio.

“I definitely have quite a bit of room to go with my mental game,” Landen Miller said.