The Press-Dispatch

October 13, 2021

The Press-Dispatch

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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 13, 2021 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 See SECTIONAL on page 4 See SOCCER on page 4 See CHARGERS on page 3 See LUNSFORD on page 6 www.UebelhorGM.com Jasper • 1-800-937-8721 CHEVROLET Experience wins out over Arnold at sectional By Matthew Haycraft Pike Central freshman Eli Arnold was the only team member to make it to the sectional match on Tuesday, October 5 at Jasper. Arnold ended up losing his singles match to senior Aden Thewes, of North- east Dubois, 0 -6, 0 -6. Head Coach Brent Beck said, "Thew- es is a big lefty with an all-around solid game. Eli did some good things, but going up against a senior with four years of high school experience under his belt was just too great a task at the moment. Eli, along with the rest of the team, learned a lot this fall, and we look forward to continuing to improve in the off-season." Weisman takes sectional champion title By Matthew Haycraft The Pike Central cross country teams participated in the sectional at South Knox on Saturday, Oct. 9. The boys' cross country team placed third, with a top five aver- age time of 20 :12 and 116 points. South Knox took first place, with a top five average time of 18:17 and 28 points. Other placing schools in the boys' division race were: 2) Gib- son Southern, 46; 4) Barr-Reeve, 126; 5) Vincennes Lincoln, 133; 6) Princeton Community, 140 ; 7) Washington, 147; and 8) Tecum- seh, 195. Teams that participated but did not score were Washington Catholic, North Knox and North Daviess. Individual placers for the Char- ger boys were: junior Peyton Chan- ley placing 14th with a time of 19:06, sophomore Jeremy Delobel placing 16th with a time of 19:07, freshman Blaine Barnett placing 18th with a time of 19:16, sopho- more Shane Woodhall placing 29th with a time of 20 :09, freshman Car- ter Blackwell placing 50th with a time of 23:22 and freshman Tyler DeCoursey placing 55th with a time of 24:45. Head Coach Randy Graham said, "We are very excited for our boys' team for their third place sec- tional race. Many of these guys im- proved their time by quite a bit on this course and they all competed today. We felt like we were on the bubble of qualifying all year, but these guys really stepped up to- day with a great showing. It's the first time in three years for us to send our whole boys' team to the regional and this will be the six- teenth time overall. It will be great to have another opportunity on our home course." Also advancing to regional are South Knox, Gibson Southern, Barr-Reeve, Vincennes Lincoln and Princeton Community. The girls' cross country team placed fourth, with a top five av- erage time of 22:47 and 89 points. South Knox took first, with a top five average time of 21:53 and 44 points. Other placing schools in the girls' division race were: 2) Princ- eton Community, 58; 3) Barr- Reeve, 79; 5) Gibson Southern, 92; 6) North Daviess, 141; and 7) North Knox, 172. Pike Central freshman Xavery Weisman took home first place at sectional, along with the title of Sectional Champion from Satur- day's meet, running the course in 19:23. Pike Central has only had two other sectional champs since 1990, with Michelle Mason being 1990 and Brittany Craney in 2006. Coach Graham commented, "We are very excited for Xavery as she came away as the individ- ual sectional champion. She beat a couple of very talented runners from Princeton today to take that title. She is the third Lady Charger to earn this honor. What a great ac- complishment for her and a testa- ment to the hard work that she has been putting in." The other individual placers for the Lady Chargers were: se- nior Quinlan Teague placing 14th with a time of 22:37, junior Kenne- Girls' soccer play hard, but come up short at sectional By Matthew Haycraft The Lady Charger soccer team played their sectional game against Princeton on Tuesday, October 5 at Jasper High School. Pike Central ended up losing 4-1 to Princ- eton. According to Head Coach Chad West- ern, the team was down a couple of play- ers because of sickness, so the team had to shift to fill the missing members' spots. Coach Western said, "This changes our whole way of setting up and playing, and you hate to have that happen at sectional." Princeton had their other sports' ath- letes to play, which makes them much more athletic than in the season when the Chargers played them last. The Lady Chargers started off on the up, and scored their first and only goal through freshman Lainey Leighty off of an assist by freshman Lillian Nalley about seven min- utes into the game. The Lady Tigers an- swered that in the first half with a rebound goal off of a same by Chargers senior goal- ie Mallory Hunt, and a strike around the 18 yard mark, leaving the score at 2-1 by halftime. In the second half of the game, the La- dy Tigers scored off of two more counters and put the end of the game score at 4-1. Coach Western commented "We played more offense throughout the game to equalize, so, of course, they had count- ers out of that. Our team had several good chances to get goals in the first and sec- ond half, we just couldn't find the net. Ev- eryone played hard and kept working all the way to the end." "We appreciate the five seniors who played the last time for PC soccer. They will be greatly missed, as this group was fun to coach, and always gave us a great effort." "The season was rough, as at the start we were quarantined down to a number we could not play for 2.5 weeks. When we got our players back, we played a whole sea- son in 4.5 weeks. We beat some teams we should have, had three really good wins against teams that were our equal or bet- ter, so we were competing each night. Our girls always followed a game plan, tried to execute the best way possible, and played with heart and effort each time out. That is what a coach wants to see. We are all very proud of the team and what they played Chargers suffer loss to Rangers By Matthew Haycraft The Pike Central Chargers faced off with Forest Park on Friday, Oc- tober 8, losing 55 -0. In game history, the Char- gers have not beaten Forest Park since September 2017, defeating them then 46 -26. Forest Park was ranked 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference, making them fifth in the PAC. The Chargers were down one of their main players, senior Wy- att Frasure, due to a family loss. Frasure is an integral player for the Chargers and was missed this game. In the first quarter, the Char- gers kicked off and the Rangers an- swered with a 89 -yard run for the touchdown right out of the gate. They followed this with a good kick, bringing the score to 7-0 only seconds into the game. The Char- gers seemed to be off their game through the first quarter, with For- est Park scoring three more touch- downs, a 33-yard punt return, a 70 -yard run in and a 19 -yard run in, followed by three good kicks. The first quarter ended with For- est Park up 28 -0. Pike Central came out for the second quarter still lacking. With 11:03 on the board, the Rangers made a 5 -yard run in, backed up by a good kick for the extra point. A fter this, the Chargers seemed to gain back some of their moxie and on the next touchdown by For- est Park, junior Corey Goeppner blocked the kick. Even though the Rangers put in another touchdown and a good kick before halftime, af- ter that warrior display, the Char- gers seemed to be getting back their fight. They held the Rangers until about 50 seconds left in the quarter before letting a 14-yard run in go past them, making the score a staggering 48 -0 at the end of the second quarter. Albany Ashley, Lady Charger se- nior, fights to take and keep pos- session of the ball during the Pike Central girls' soccer sectional game against Princeton on Tuesday, Oc- tober 5 at Jasper. CHARGER XC ADVANCES TO REGIONALS The Lady Chargers pull out of the start box full speed during the girls' division sectional race at South Knox on Saturday, October 9. Lunsford crowned 2021 Mr. Olympia By Matthew Haycraft Derek Lunsford, who graduat- ed from Pike Central in 2011, won the 2021 Mr. Olympia title in the 212 Division. Going from a Charger PAC wrestling champion at 125 pounds as a junior and 130 pounds as a senior to a 5'6" 211.5 pound Mr. Olympia is a feat if nothing else. Lunsford qualified for the Olympia by placing in the top five during the 2020 competition. Lunsford commented, "I train all year for this competition. I don't take breaks. I live this life- style and train everyday." When asked if COVID slowed him down, Lunsford said, "Deal- ing with COVID was a challenge, but I found a way to keep training and improving my physique." The Olympia weekend took place October 7-10, with pro com- petitions taking place on the Octo- ber 8 -9, in Orlando, Fla. Lunsford was one of 18 to compete in the Men's 212 Bodybuilding division. He has been competing since Derek Lunsford, graduate of Pike Central High School, with his trophy and medal for win- ning Mr. Olympia on Saturday, October 9 in Orlando, Fla. Submitted photo

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