The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1054616
B-4 Sports Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Press-Dispatch up one," said Bohnert's father, Mike, who also serves as head coach for the boys' and girls' swim- ming and diving teams at Pike Central. On Monday, Nov. 19, Bohnert made her choice official – which, as it turns out, was ...both! During a ceremony held in Pike Central High School's distance learn- ing lab, Bohnert signed a National Letter of Intent to both swim and play golf at Southwest Minnesota State University, a NCA A Division II school locat- ed in Marshall, Minn., which announced earlier this year that it was rein- stating its women's swim- ming and diving program, starting with the 2019 -20 season. "She's got the oppor- tunity to do them both," Gideon said afterward. "She's going to be really busy, but she's the kind of kid I think that kind of thrives with that. She doesn't like an offseason." The 17-year-old Bohnert, accompanied by her father, Mike, and mother, Beth, visited the Southwest Minnesota State University campus in early October as part of a weekend trip to see her brother, Jake, who is a freshman on the swim team at Iowa Lakes Com- munity College. "They had sent some- thing out, right before we were going up to vis- it Jake, and we realized that they were just a cou- ple hours north of where he was at," Mike Bohnert said. "So we thought, well, let's go check it out." During the visit, the Bohnerts sat down for lunch with the Southwest Minnesota State Univer- sity women's swimming and diving coach, Marty Wahle. Wahle, a 2009 gradu- ate of Minnesota State with a degree in elemen- tary education, was a 16 -time NCA A Division II All-American who was named the NSIC Swim- mer of the Year in both 2008 and 2009 and was also a two-time Scholar All-American. During the summer of 2008, Wahle participated in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, competing in the 200 -yard backstroke. Bohnert, who has ad- vanced to the state meet in the 100 -yard back- stroke each of the last three years and in the 200 -yard individual med- ley each of the last two years, said that she plans to major in elementary ed- ucation. "Their coach majored in the same thing I'm go- ing to major in, and swam the same thing that I swim," Bohnert said. "So it kind of just fit perfectly." Mike Bohnert agreed. "We thought this may be a really good fit for her," he said. "So we made the round-trip to see Jake and check the school out." It was during that lunch- time meeting when Wah- le was told that, the pre- vious weekend, Bohnert had competed in the state golf meet. "He kind of took it in, but we were talking about something else at the time, and he said, 'So you were at golf state last weekend? '" Mike Bohnert said. "And I said, 'Yeah.' So we start- ed talking about that." "He said, 'Well, the golf coach is here, I think. I talked to him this morn- ing. Would you be inter- ested in doing both? '" Mike Bohnert said. "And she said, 'Well, yeah.'" The Bohnerts then talk- ed to the Southwest Min- nesota State University women's golf coach Ross Webskowski during a hastily arranged meeting. "We kind of cold- called him, caught him off guard," Mike Bohnert said. "He looked at some of her videos online." "He seemed really nice and like a coach I would want to have," Bohnert said. A couple of days later, Webskowski asked the Bohnerts to make and send a more recent video. "They sent what they were going to offer re- ally quick after that," Mike Bohnert said. "She thought about it. We all thought it was a really good fit for her." Mike Bohnert said that he was happy with his daughter's decision. "She's worked really hard, both sports, for it," he said. "I mean, she's put in a lot of hours. With golf, she'll either be hitting in the yard or at the golf course, and with swim- ming, she does morning optional practices and at night she's putting in a lot of yardage. She re- ally wants to push to be the best in anything she does." Gideon agreed. "She became a great golfer because she put in a lot of time," Gideon said. "She's a good athlete, ob- viously, which helps, but she worked on her game, spent a lot of time playing, was real dedicated." "A competitor is a com- petitor, regardless of the sport, I think," Gideon added. "She's that way. She's real tenacious. She's out to be the best she can and to win, so it definitely carries over in any sport she plays." Bohnert said that she was looking forward to being a member of the Southwest Minnesota State University's first women's team since the program was eliminated following a 10 -year run in 1980. "Whenever we went on the tour, they kept say- ing over and over again, 'You'll be able to make history here,'" Bohnert said. "So it's pretty neat to be able to just go in now and be on the first girls' team there." "That was one of the things she thought would be really neat, to be in at the beginning of something again," Mike Bohnert said. "I think she is kind of looking forward to that." Signing now, according to Mike Bohnert, should make it easier for his daughter as she begins her final swimming sea- son at Pike Central. "It'll take a lot of pres- sure off of her," he said. "She can just go and en- joy her senior year." Bohnert agreed. "It eliminates a lot of stress, a lot of the choic- es," she said. "But it can just help me focus on be- ing able to do the best that I can do this year and not have to worry about any- thing else along with it." Bohnert admitted that she was looking forward to attending Southwest Minnesota State Univer- sity, which is an approxi- mately 12 hour drive from her home in Petersburg. "I'm pretty excited just to go out there and be able to see a differ- ent part of the country," Bohnert said. "It'll be a big change, but I'm excit- ed to see where it takes me." As for Bohnert's par- ents, they expect they will be making several trips to visit both of their children. "A lot of trips," Mike Bohnert said. "You can kind of make it a round- trip and see both of them. They're just two hours apart. They may see each other more than they see us." Beth Bohnert said that she hoped that Southwest Minnesota State Universi- ty and Iowa Lakes Com- munity College will com- pete occasionally in the same meet next season. "I'm hoping they both get to swim in meets to- gether, at times," Beth Bohnert said. "That way, we can go watch both of them." "It was tough with Jake, at the beginning, but then you see that it was a real- ly good fit," Mike Bohnert said. "That's what they've worked for, so it's kind of neat that they get to see a part of the country that they've not seen." BOHNERT Continued from page 1 PCMS 7th and 8th grade girls' basketball teams suffer first losses Chloe Williams scored a game-high 12 points but it was not enough as the Pike Central Middle School eighth grade girls' basket- ball team dropped a 33- 20 loss at Washington on Wednesday, Nov. 14. "It was a rough night phys- ically and mentally at Wash- ington for us," Lady Char- gers eighth grade coach Er- ic Knight said. "Washington came to play and they played very aggressively." Chloe Browning and Al- ly Gross scored four points each as the Lady Hatchets took an 8 -6 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Ha- leigh Cummins scored four points, Browning scored three points and Sydney Melton added two more as Washington outscored Pike Central 9 -6 to extend its lead to 17-12 at halftime. The Lady Hatchets again outscored the Lady Char- gers 9 -6 in the third quarter – on four points by Brown- ing, three points by Melton and two points by Ella Stow- ers – to take a 26 -18 lead in- to the fourth quarter. "I will take the loss on this game," said Knight, who noted that Pike Central was held to zero attempts from the free throw line. "We were not ready for this type of game. We could not get things going offensive- ly, and Washington's Chloe Browning was a really good point guard that also saw the floor very well." "She could penetrate the lane and when help side did their job she would dish it off down low," Knight add- ed. "That was also on me. We will work on the defense a little more." Jaylynn Capehart scored four points for the Lady Chargers while Delaney Welch and Kennedy Willis added two points each. "Kennedy played her heart out on defense to- night," Knight said. "She gave all she had. I even had to take her out late in the game because she was hav- ing a hard time breathing and got overheated a little." Melton added seven points for Washington while Cum- mins netted six points. With the loss, Pike Cen- tral fell to 3-1 after opening the season with wins over Fort Branch, Loogootee and North Posey. "This is the tough time of the year for middle school basketball because we play so many games," said Knight, whose Lady Char- gers hosted Washington Catholic on Monday, Nov. 19, and Haubstadt on Tues- day, Nov. 20. "It really hurts on getting the gym and prac- tice days to work on stuff be- cause we play two to three games a week." "This team has talent all over the place," Knight add- ed. "The girls have realized what style I'm looking for and what we need to improve and work on. I think once we get going and learn the new style, we will become a great team. As a coach, I hate hear- ing that a loss is a good thing, but it did show us things to work on and improve on. It also showed me, as a coach, things to work on." In the seventh grade con- test, Hayleigh Cummins scored a game-high 13 points to lead Washington to a 27-17 victory over Pike Central. Brailey Mills paced the Lady Chargers with 10 points while Wren Kabrick and Anna Whitehead added five and two points, respec- tively. With the loss, Pike Cen- tral slipped to 3-1. Pike Central will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 29, when the Lady Chargers will host North Knox. PCMS eighth grade girls rout Washington Catholic, 45-19 Chloe Williams scored 18 points and Liberty Tay- lor added 12 to lead the Pike Central Middle School eighth grade girls' basket- ball team to a 45 -19 victo- ry over visiting Washing- ton Catholic on Monday, Nov. 19. "Confidence was a huge factor in the outcome of this game," said Lady Char- gers eighth grade coach Er- ic Knight. "The girls ran the floor great and did a fantas- tic job of full-court pressing. The full-court press rattled Washington Catholic and gave us many fast-break op- portunities." A fter taking a 9 -4 lead in the first quarter, Taylor scored nine points as Pike Central outscored the Lady Cardinals 16 -7 in the second quarter to extend its lead to 25 -11 at halftime. Williams scored eight points in the third quarter as the Lady Chargers out-point- ed Washington Catholic 14-6 to stretch their lead to 39 -17. "With Chloe and Liberty gathering all the rebounds and the girls running the floor with intentions to go score, the fast-paced run- and-gun offense worked great," Knight said. "The girls realized after the game we never ran one offensive set. It was all fast-break op- portunities or attacking the rim off the break." "Chloe dominated the post, offensively and defen- sively," Knight added. "She has been working on her post moves and going strong to the basket – not only mak- ing the bucket, but getting to the line. It all comes back to the confidence the girls are starting to get back." Twin sisters Kahle Young and Keena Young both add- ed four points for Pike Cen- tral. Jaylynn Capehart net- ted three points while Mad- elyn Fiscus and Delaney Welch tossed in two points each. "The perimeter girls did a fantastic job of pressuring the ball handler and get- ting into the passing lanes," Knight said. "Kennedy Wil- lis, Kahle Young, Keena Young, Delaney Welch all took turns pestering the ball and chasing the ball, looking to trap anywhere on the floor." Pike Central, which host- ed Haubstadt on Tuesday, Nov. 20, will host North Knox on Tuesday, Nov. 29. "This is a fun group to watch," Knight said. "They get after it all game and are starting to see what kind of a force they can be when it all starts to come together." Wiseman back in deer woods Bagging a buck for some hunters is simply going back to a favorite spot and wait- ing. For Otwell's Donnie Wiseman, it was a 10 -year wait he had to make before getting back in the hunt af- ter suffering a fall from a tree stand that broke his back and landed him in a power chair. Since that day Wiseman has adjusted from prior en- deavors such as college, truck driving, farming and a hitch in the military. New for him has been helping teach hunter safety at DNR hunter safety trainings. Hand con- trols for a van and on a trac- tor were also on the horizon. This year was the first hunting afield after a friend sold him a shotgun and mounted a scope. A f- ter sighting in shots, Wise- man was ready for opening day this past Saturday. On Sunday he was in his chair at the right spot and took a four point buck on the run from about 150 yards. His time getting accustomed to the shotgun paid off with a one-shot kill. It was really all because of his wife Andrea, a teacher at Otwell Miller Academy. Ac- cording to Wiseman, "She let me go hunting this year and it paid off for me." Wise- man said Saturday was fog- gy but Sunday turned out to be the day for the shot. He said, "It wasn't the one I was after when I fell, so I'm still looking for him." Actually Wiseman will be hunting for does since he bought the bundle that in- cludes a buck and two does. Going fishing wasn't as long a wait as with hunting. He got a line wet from a boat because of Brad Jenkins and others that got him out on the water at Prides Creek. Several obstacles had to be overcome, but that first time in years made buying the tackle all worth while for several friends that were there for that initial time out on the water. The Pike Central High School volleyball team held its an- nual awards banquet recently. Pictured above are the varsi- ty award winners. They are, from left to right: Kylee Shoul- tz (Defense Award); Alyssa Jenkins (Blocking Award, Aca- demic All-State Honorable Mention); Becca Crow (Serving Award, Academic Award, Academic All-State); and Aubrie Dawson (Kiwanis Mental Attitude Award). Not pictured: Au- drey Keepes (Hitting Award). Submitted Photo The Pike Central High School volley- ball team held its annual awards ban- quet recently. Pictured above are the junior varsity award winners. They are, from left to right: Erika Vinnedge (Blocking Award); Kenzie Powell (Serving Award); and Lily Willis (Ki- wanis Mental Attitude Award). Not pic- tured: Addie Johnson (Hitting Award and Defense Award). Submitted Photo After a 10-year hiatus from hunting due to a fall from a tree stand, Donnie Wiseman, of Ot- well, was back out in the deer woods. The fall that paralyzed him from the middle of the back down put him in a power chair these past 10 years. The nearest he has gotten to deer hunting was as a presenter for DNR in required youth hunter safe- ty classes. This year Wiseman took to the woods with a new scoped shotgun and dropped a run- ning buck at approximately 150 yards while seat- ed in his chair. SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500