SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Former McKendree bowlers AJ Johnson and Brandi (Branka) Kordelewski are set to be inducted into the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame on July 25th.  

Both Kordelewski and Johnson are members of the McKendree Sports Hall of Fame for their amazing status and achievements within their respective careers here at McKendree. They left a lasting impression while a Bearcat and now are being recognized at the state level for their respective work they are doing past the colligate level.  

Brandi (Branka) Kordelewski 

Originally from Momence, Illinois, she came to McKendree in 2008 and had a very successful four-year career. From 2010 to 2012, Kordelewski really started to make some noise. She earned her first Intercollegiate Team Championships All-Tournament Team selection in 2010 and once again in 2012.  

During her career she racked up a ton of accolades, including back-to-back National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) First-Team All-American selections in 2011 and 2012. An Intercollegiate Team Championships First-Team All-American honor, a NAIA First-Team All-American award. In 2011, she was the Bowling Writers Association of American (BWAA) Honorable Mention, then in 2012 the BWAA Runner Up. 

She was also named the NAIA Championship Most Valuable Player that year as she was a part of that NAIA Women's Bowling Championship team. In the 2011-2012 season, she averaged 203, which ranked her third in the NAIA in scoring average. In her four years she had 17 top 10 individual finishes, where she claimed the top spot in three of them.  

After McKendree, Kordelewski was the head coach for the University of Maryville Women's Bowling team from 2015 through 2022. There, she won the MIAA Women's Bowling Coach of the Year award in 2018 and then the GLVC Women's Bowling Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2022.  

During that time, she also joined the Professional Women's Bowlers Association (PWBA) in 2016. In the PWBA she has been a runner up at the 2017 QubicaAMF PWBA Sonoma Country Open, 2019 East Hartford Regional and 2025 Peoria Regional.  

Kordelewski currently holds the Illinois state record for the highest three-game series with an 868 shooting 290, 279, and 299. 

AJ Johnson  

Originally from Oswego, Illinois Johnson came to McKendree in 2011 and became a very well-known name throughout his colligate bowling career. As a freshman, he averaged 203.094, which was second on the team that year. He then went on to lead the team in scoring average his sophomore through senior year.  

The success really started to come in the 2013-2014 season where Johnson averaged 222.097 in traditional games. Throughout the nine tournaments that season he managed eight top 25 finishes; six of them were top five and three victories. That season he was named the National Bowler of the Year by the NCBCA and the International Bowling Media Association (IBMA).  

Johnson's collegiate career finished with a total of 15 top five finishes, five of which were victories. He also helped the team to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships three times and even a second place in the 2013-2014 season. Individually he earned five All-America awards, three coming from the NCBCA.  

After McKendree, Johnson is continuing his success in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. Since joining in 2015, he has done a little bit of everything in professional bowling. He won one career PBA tour title after winning the 2023 Lucky Larsen Masters, he has 11 career PBA regional tour titles and named PBA Midwest Region Player of the Year three times (2017, 2018 and 2020). Recently, in 2019 he won the KPBA SamHo Cup and in 2021 the CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational. Last year he was a part of the Las Vegas High Rollers where they took home the 2024 Elias Cup in the PBA Elite League.  

Johnson is also a very active member of Team USA where he has been selected 11 times. His first selection came in 2012 as only a sophomore in college, then once again in 2014 as a senior. His next selection came in 2017 where he has then proceeded to be on the team nine straight years. During his time on Team USA, they have won four gold medals, and he has individually won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.   

Both Kordelewski and Johnson will join Jeff Carter and Kristopher Prather in the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame as the class of 2026 for bowling.  

For more information and tickets for the events click HERE.