The Press-Dispatch
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B-6 Sports Wednesday, Januar y 15, 2020 The Press-Dispatch they can to make sure I am getting the education I need, while also play- ing the two sports that I love." The SMSU swimming season is coming down the home stretch. De- spite battling a couple nag- ging injuries, Bohnert has already prov- en to be one of the Mus- tangs' top athletes. She is a key member of SMSU's 200 medley relay team, which is arguably the squad's best relay team. "Natalie has done great things for the team," SM- SU swimming coach Mar- ty Wahle said. "She is a hard worker, fierce com- petitor and is always striv- ing to be her best in the water. She was fairly qui- et in my first meeting with her, but I could tell from talking to her that she had tons of potential. Natalie's times in her best events fit in well with our conference and within D-II. There are components that cross over from sport to sport. I be- lieve that Natalie has built great mental and physical skills from golf and tennis that cross over into swim- ming." Bohnert has also prov- en to be the Mustang's top female athlete in the back- stroke, breaststroke and in- dividual medley. She's se- cured individual wins in all three events this season. Wahle said if Bohnert continues to improve, she has the potential to finish top three at the conference meet and become an NCA A qualifier. "She knows approxi- mately what times she will have to hit," Wahle said. "That's where we are at right now. She is con- tinuing to do her best ev- eryday. At minimum, she wants to hit lifetime bests at our conference meet in February, and hoping she can go fast enough to get an NCA A invite. We are go- ing to see how this season goes and look into setting future goals once our sea- son is finished." The Mustang's swim team spent the last week in Mesa, Ariz., taking part in its most intense train- ing of the season. The team has one more regular sea- son meet on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Minnesota State Moorhead Quad. The team will then compete at the NSIC Championships in Bismarck, N.D., from Feb. 12 through Feb. 15. The NCA A Championship Meet is March 11 through March 14 in Geneva, Ohio. Bohnert closed the fall golf season with a 95.1 av- erage in 10 rounds. She had her season-low 89 in both rounds of the Augustana Invite. "Our team had a de- cent fall season," SMSU golf coach Ross Webskow- ski said. "We have a very young team, which lead to some inconsistency in our scoring, but they all have lots of talent. Natalie has lots of potential as a college golfer and we look forward to her making an impact in our lineup. She didn't score as well as she would have liked in the fall, but she re- ally showed what she is ca- pable of." Bohnert placed 53rd at the Bemidji State Tourna- ment, 77th at the Concor- dia-Saint Paul Classic, 70th at Ramada Mustang Invite, 43rd at the Augustana In- vite and 115th at the Mid- west Classic. "Natalie is such a great person who works extreme- ly hard and is coachable," Webskowski said. "She is very competitive and driv- en to succeed. Natalie is a very talented golfer. As she gains more experience, her game will come togeth- er. She will learn from that and be able to minimize her bad hole scores as we move forward, which will drop her scoring average significantly." Webskowski said he wasn't aware of Bohnert until she was already on campus for an official visit. "I quickly learned she was a very talented and motivated young lady," he said. "I was able to see some golf videos and her high school scores, which really made me interest- ed. She is very athletic and has a smooth golf swing. I could see all the potential she has in golf and with her work ethic, the sky is the limit. When she described to me what she was look- ing for in a college, it was exactly SMSU and who we were. That really solidified to me that we needed to find a way to have Natalie join the Mustang Family. She has been everything I expected and more. We are very fortunate to have Na- talie competing in both swimming and golf here at SMSU." The college golf season is split into fall and spring seasons, with the team playing four or five tour- naments in each. All the results count towards the team's overall record. Webskowski reaffirmed Wahle's belief that compet- ing in different sports has multiple benefits. "There are so many things that are learned through sports and being on two teams will help both teams get better at their weaknesses and capital- ize on their strengths," he said. "I believe the compet- itive experience in another sport, being coached by a different coach and being a part of another team, has benefits which will help Na- talie make an impact on her golf team." The Bohnert family is synonymous with swim- ming in Pike County. Bohnert's father, Mike, swam in high school and was a member of a relay team that went to state. He is one of the few Char- gers to ever make it that far. Both of her parents have served as coaches for the high school and middle school teams. Bohnert's older brother, Brandon, was a member of a PAC championship team that started the most recent six-year streak of domi- nate Chargers' swimming. He also held the school re- cord for the 100 butter- fly when he graduated in 2012. Bohnert's other old- er brother, Jacob, is also an impressive swimmer for Pike Central. He currently swims for Iowa Lakes Com- munity College in Emmets- burg, Iowa. "We have always been a swim family," Natalie's mother, Beth Bohnert, said. "Mike and I met at a swim meet and have been together ever since. The kids started swim - ming with USA Swimming when they were in elemen- tary school and loved it. Na- talie also played basketball and knew she would need to choose when she got to high school, since the sea- sons occur at the same time, but after the first basketball game of her 6th- grade year, she knew her heart was in the water and quit basketball to pursue swimming. Jacob played basketball too, but there was never any doubt he would choose swimming; he loved it. They both are at home in the water. We never pushed the kids to swim. They were free to make up their own minds about the sports they par- ticipated in. All of our kids just happened to be really good at swimming." Bohnert is currently an elementary education ma- jor, but she plans to change that next semester. "I don't think Elemen- tary Education is for me, so I will be trying a differ- ent path this next semes- ter," she said. "My major is changing to Biology this next semester and I am hoping to pursue a career in either Zoology or Pros- thetics and Orthotics. I have a couple more years to decide which direction I want to go with this de- gree." BOHNERT Continued from page 1 SWIM Continued from page 1 Natalie Bohnert 1:18.74; 4, Burkhart (PC) 1:19.72. 100 freestyle: 2, Cooper (PC) 56.49; 6, Hill (PC) 1:07.44. 500 freestyle: 4, Readle (PC) 6:32.42; 6, Russell (PC) 7:17.97. 200 freestyle relay: 2, Pike Central (Henson, Theising, Hill, Cooper) 1:50.03. 100 backstroke: 2, Coo- per (PC) 1:09.43; 3, Theis- ing (PC) 1:15.35. 100 breaststroke: 3, Bur- dette (PC) 1:20.92; 4, Hen- son (PC) 1:21.32. 400 freestyle relay: 4, Pike Central (Hill, Burkhart, Burdette, Readle) 4:30.91. Girls Gibson Southern 138, Pike Central 102, Northeast Dubois 60 200 medley relay: 1, Pike Central ( Jillian Bailey, Em- ma McKinney, Jenna Mey- er, Charlotte Dudenhoef- fer) 2:15.92. 5, Pike Central (Lily Fredrick-Rice, Shelby Keeker, Morgan Sallee, Sar- ah Fenwick) 2:49.92. 200 freestyle: 3, Madison Riley (PC) 2:34.66; 6, Fen- wick (PC) 3:02.34. 200 individual medley: 1, Dudenhoeffer (PC) 2:49.17; 5, Sallee (PC) 3:53.47. 50 freestyle: 3, McKinney (PC) 30.95. One meter diving: 1, Jen- na Meyer (PC) 189.75. 100 butterfly: 3, Freder- ick-Rice (PC) 1:23.51; 5, Sal- lee (PC) 2:04.86. 100 freestyle: 3, Meyer (PC) 1:11.48. 500 freestyle: 2, Duden- hoeffer (PC) 6:42.06; 5, Fen- wick (PC) 8:14.70. 200 freestyle relay: 1, Pike Central (McKinney, Meyer, Riley, Dudenhoef- fer) 2:05.23; 4, Pike Cen- tral (Bailey, Keeker, Sallee, Frederick-Rice) 2:20.73. 100 backstroke: 1, Bailey (PC) 1:14.06; 2, Riley (PC) 1:18.33. 100 breaststroke: 2, McK- inney (PC) 1:27.42; 4, Keek- er (PC) 1:38.77. 400 freestyle relay: 4, Pike Central (Riley, Bailey, Keek- er, Frederick-Rice) 4:54.77. See John, Pam, or Cindy to place your order today. Phone: 812- 354-8500 E-mail: ads@pressdispatch.net 1. Two-week promotion beginning Feb. 5, with a follow-up on Feb. 12. 2. Free Spot Magenta each week ($100 value). 3. Must participate both weeks for discount. 4. Deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 29. The Valentine's Day Sweetheart Spectacular is a great sales opportunity for businesses throughout the area, and the The Press-Dispatch is offering a special promotion to help your business make the most of it. Sweetheart SPECTACULAR Our MOst POPular sizes: 2 col. x 4 in. .................................... $108.80 TOTAL 2 col. x 6 in. .................................... $163.20 TOTAL 3 col. x 6 in. .................................... $244.80 TOTAL Other sizes available, ask your advertising representative. VALENTINE'S DAY IS FRIDAY, FEB. 14 Nate Woolery signs with Grace College By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central senior Nate Woolery signed his national letter of intent to run cross country and track at Grace College and Seminary. "The atmosphere and community that they have there is really welcoming," Woolery said. "It's a Chris- tian college and the coach is really determined to make sure everyone on the team stays true to those values. That really drew me in and made me want to go there." Woolery has been one of Chargers' strongest athletes on the track and cross coun- try course the past couple of years. He qualified for the cross country regional after he fin- ished eighth at the Sectional 31 meet this past season. He also earned All-Pocket Ath- letic Conference honors af- ter placing eighth at the con- ference meet. Woolery won the 3,200 -meter run at last sea- son's Sectional 31 track meet with a time of 10 min- utes and 52.46 seconds. He also placed third in the 1,600 -meter run. Grace College and Semi- nary and evangelical Chris- tian college is in Winona Lake, Ind., which is approx- imately four hours away from Pike County. The school has 15 intercollegiate sports team that compete as a member of the National As- sociation of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I in the Crossroads League. Woolery said he's nev- er been that far away from home for an extended peri- od of time, but he thinks he can handle the change. "It's a nice little commu- nity," Woolery said. "I think I'll be alright." He plans to major in ex- ercise science, and hopes to work as an athletic train- er and eventually become a coach. Woolery has already set an important goal for his col- legiate career. "I just want to become the best version of myself possi- ble and reach my potential as an athlete," he said. Charger Sam Theising competes in the butterfly event Monday night. He placed third for the Chargers in a time of 118.74. Pike Central boys finished third in the triangle meet against Gibson Southern and Northeast Dubois. Pike Central's Nate Woolery signs his national letter of intent to continue his athletic career at Grace College during a ceremony at PCHS on Friday, Jan. 10 while surrounded by friends, family and coaches.