The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 9, 2017 B-1 SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Lady Chargers' golf team opens 2017 season with win over Washington By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Senior Natalie Burkhart fired a 4-over-par 40 to lead the Pike Central High School girls' golf team to a season-opening 184-210 win over visiting Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at the Prides Creek Golf Course. Junior Natalie Bohnert shot a 7-over-par 43, se- nior Mackenzie DeWeese had a 12-over-par 48, and two first-year players – se- nior Jalah Barnes and soph- omore Hadley Holder – both had 17-over-par scores of 53. Senior Morgan DeWeese, meanwhile, shot a 19 -over- par 55. Washington was led by se- nior Lakota Jones, who fired a 9 -over-par 45, and senior Victoria Lewis, who shot a 13-over-par 49. Sophomore Faith Dalton had a 19 -over- par 55 while junior Sarah Lancaster rounded out the Lady Hatchets' top four with a 25 -over-par score of 61. Sophomore Bailey Fowler added a 26 -over-par score of 62, sophomore Reagan Phil- lips-Wright had a 30 -over- par score of 66, and junior McKenzie Parsons shot a 33-over-par score of 69. The 26 -stroke victory was three strokes better than the Lady Chargers' 178 -201 sea- son-opening win over Wash- ington to open the 2016 sea- son. "I was fine with our team score, but I really think we have the potential to go a good bit lower," Pike Cen- tral head coach Jarred Gide- on said. "Both Burkhart and Bohnert are capable of go- ing much lower. Mackenzie started rough but finished strong. She can easily shave five to seven strokes off of her score." "I was very pleased with how Morgan, Jalah and Had- ley played to start the sea- son," Gideon added. "If they can become consistent, in the 50 range, we can be very solid. They have all put in a lot of time this summer." The Lady Chargers, who hosted Pocket Athletic Con- ference foe Heritage Hills on Monday, Aug. 7, will take on North Knox and South Knox at 4:30 p.m. on Thurs- day, Aug. 10, at the Coun- try Club of Old Vincennes, Derek Lunsford poses while competing in the 212-pound class at the 2017 International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) Tampa Pro on Friday, Aug. 4. Lunsford placed first, earning a chance to compete at the 2017 Olympia in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sept. 14-16. Submitted Photo Pike Central High School junior Natalie Bohnert hits her ball out of a sand trap during a varsity girls' golf match against visiting Washing- ton on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at the Prides Creek Golf Course. Bohnert shot a nine-hole score of 43 as the Lady Chargers won the match, 184-210. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bur- khart tees off during a varsity girls' golf match against visiting Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at the Prides Creek Golf Course. Burkhart shot a nine-hole score of 40 as the Lady Chargers won the match, 184-210. Ed Cahill photo Jason Roach Roach named boys' basketball coach at Evansville North LUNSFORD ADVANCING TO 2017 OLYMPIA AFTER WINNING FIRST PRO COMPETITION WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Less than one week after being named "Mr. USA" as the overall winner at the 2017 National Physique Com- mittee (NPC) USA Bodybuilding Championships, Derek Lunsford – who graduated from Pike Central High School in 2011 – took top honors in the 212-pound class at the 2017 International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) Tampa Pro on Friday, Aug. 4. With the first-place finish in his first professional com- petition, the 24-year-old Lunsford qualified for the 2017 Olympia, which will be held Sept. 14-16 in Las Vegas, Nev. "It's funny because, literally, in one week, from one show to the other, expectations were flip-flopped," Lunsford told Muscular Development magazine online editor Ron Har- ris afterward. "I was supposed to win the overall (at the 2017 NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships) as a light heavyweight. Then now, it's like, 'He's a rookie. Best of luck to him.'" "My mindset never changed," Lunsford continued. "I was just going to be at my best and do the best I possibly can, have fun ... and the cards fell where we wanted them to, so that was awesome." Lunsford, the son of Javona Miller, of Petersburg, and Scott Lunsford, of Washington, was a two-time Pocket Ath- letic Conference wresting champion at 125 pounds as a ju- nior and 130 pounds as a senior. Lunsford's mother, grandmother, Carol Arvin, and girl- friend, Jhelsin Mabaga, were present to witness his pro debut – and win. "They're my biggest supporters, for sure – the three best women in the world," Lunsford told Maximum Muscle Re- port 's Mandus Buckle in an interview just minutes after winning the Tampa Pro. Lunsford is currently being coached by James Brown, of St. Louis, a bodybuilder who formerly owned and oper- ated a sports supplements store – Xtreme Nutrition – in Vincennes. "He came in – he was about 19 (years old) and 120 pounds, soaking wet – with a million ridiculous questions," Brown told Harris. "But there was one thing I could tell from the get-go – that he was a hard worker. I never had a problem answering his questions because of his work eth- ic, and the fact that he truly wanted to know." "In his development, how long into this did you know that he was going to be something special? " Harris asked. "He moved away, out of the town that I lived in, for about four months, and he came back and he had put on about 45 pounds of not great weight," Brown replied. "He told me, 'I want to be a bodybuilder, and I want to do a show.' I said, 'Okay, we've got our work cut out for us.'" "So he started dieting and I could certainly see his shape come alive and I could start to see what he was capable of," Brown continued. "At that point, I knew he was something special. But it wasn't until the next offseason, when he put on about 30 pounds of stage weight, that I really knew that he was something very special, and a guy that was going to shoot to the top of this industry, and the top of the IFBB." Starting out as an amateur in 2015, Lunsford placed first By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Jason Roach is going to the dogs. Literally. Roach, who has served as head coach for the Pike Central High School var- sity boys' basketball team for the last three seasons, has been named as the new varsity boys' basket- ball coach at Evansville North High School. According to a press re- lease issued Monday, Aug. 7, by the Evansville-Van- derburgh School Corpo- ration, Roach will be re- placing Andre Thomas – who was recently named as the new athletic direc- tor at Evansville Harrison – as the next head coach of the Huskies. "I didn't have my eyes open, looking to get out," Roach said in a telephone interview late Monday. "There were just, real- ly, a school or two that, if the opportunity present- ed itself, were ones that I would have to look at. North just happened to be at the top of the list, see- ing how I live right down the road from it." Roach and his wife, Amanda, who is employed as a home health nurse with Horizon Health Care, reside on the north side of Evansville with their two- year-old daughter, Blake- ly. "I would never have thought that the job would come open that quickly," Roach said. "Coach Thom- as was there for just two years, but he had to make a difficult decision, and he made a big step up in be- coming an athletic direc- tor. You can't really predict how these things happen." "In a perfect world, you kind of lay out a plan that you want to do this and this and this, and we all know that's just not how life is," Roach added. "You've got to take the opportunities when they come. That's what we preach to our kids, in the classroom and on the court – take advan- tage of opportunities. So I'd kind of be a liar if, prob- ably, I didn't try to make this move." Roach, 33, led the Char- gers to a 12-11 record during the 2014-15 cam- paign, ending a stretch of 15 consecutive losing sea- sons, and followed that up with back-to-back Class 3A sectional champion- ships in 2015 -16 and 2016 - 17, compiling won-loss re- cords of 20 -6 and 15 -12, re- spectively. With 47 coaching wins – to go with 29 losses – in three seasons, Roach ranks second in the pro- gram's history behind Brian Wahl, who compiled 137 wins in 12 seasons from 1989 -2001. Gary Le- mond is third with 43 wins in five seasons from 1980 - 1985. Roach is hardly leaving the cupboard bare at Pike Central, with six rising se- niors – led by Bryant Nal- ley, who enters the 2017- 18 season with 823 career points – returning from a Charger squad that ad- See ROACH on 2 See LUNSFORD on 2 See GOLF on 2