Sports – Page 16

Athlete Spotlight: Trey Bottorff (video)

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story by Tristan Jackson

video by Sam Gatewood

As one pulls up to the tennis courts at Jeffersonville High School, they’ll probably notice “J-E-F-F” painted vibrantly along the wall on the side of the school.

From this wall echoes the boys tennis team, an energetic bunch, whose yells rival those of the student section cheering on the football team on Friday nights.

Of those voices, one tends to stand out. That is that of Varsity No. 1 doubles player Trey Bottorff.

“I focus on [being energetic] because it distracts me from thinking too much,” Bottorff said. “Tennis is such a mental sport and it helps me stay within myself and I truly think I play better when I’m energetic. I also use it as a weapon to get in the head of my opponents.”

Bottorff’s energy and passion for the game are what stands out when he plays, and it has proven to pay off. Last year he put up a 10-10 record alongside his partner Jerid Inman, who he has been playing with since their middle school years at Parkview.

The pairing proved to be vital to the team’s semi-state run last year, as they picked up the third, and deciding point, for Jeff in the first round of Regionals against New Albany.

“Clinching Regionals with Trey last year was easily my best memory and I wouldn’t have wanted to win it for our team with anyone else,” Inman said.

As Bottorff heads into his senior season, he looks to contribute on a Red Devils squad that has their eye on getting back to the state finals. Bottorff, along with teammates and fellow seniors Keith Asplund and Jerid Inman, already have experience in the state finals.

Ultimately, that is a goal for the team heading forward.

“The goal is to make it a step further than we did last year, which would mean returning to state for the second time in three years.” Asplund said.

This year’s squad looks to continue Jeff’s winning tradition and get far in the state tournament. To do that, Bottorff will have to play a pivotal role if the Red Devils are to make it happen.

19 Sep 201719 Mar 2018 by tristanjackson15

PREVIEW: Boys Soccer

story by Braxton Troutman

Coming off a 2-1 heartbreaking loss in double overtime against Floyd Central in last year’s Sectional championship, the boys soccer team is looking to redeem themselves this season.

After the loss of six seniors to graduation, the 2017-18 squad is looking to move forward with a bright, young group of players. Top scorers of team include junior Jacob Clemons, Senior Ben Walter,and junior Leonel Esparza.

“I feel like we’re better than we were last year,” said senior Khaleb Khan. “Not saying we were bad last year, we’re just better this year. Things are looking good from here on. I think we’ll be successful, (win) titles.”

With victories against Atherton (KY) and North Harrison, in addition to an impressive 7-0 win against Christian Academy of Indiana, the season kicked off as a promising one for the Red Devils. Early losses, however, against defending state champs Evansville Memorial, and conference foe Seymour, have changed the team’s current morale. A “tie” game against conference foes Floyd Central ended with a power outage at the 26’ of the first half.

The team sits at 5-2-2 at time of press. With a tough schedule this year, they will have to face conference champions Seymour and will look to beat out Floyd Central for their Sectional crown.

19 Sep 2017 by BraxtonTroutman

Restoring History: the story of the Schnatter-Nachand Fieldhouse

story by Kyle Sanders

At 601 E. Court Ave in downtown Jeffersonville sits one of the city’s most historic buildings: the Nachand Fieldhouse.

This building, which used to hold Jeff High’s basketball games until 1971, is now seen as a place for friends to have a great time and hangout. However after being around for 80 years, the Fieldhouse has fallen in need of renovation.

The city of Jeff had visions of saving the historic gym, but would require major work, both inside and outside of the building, that would cost upwards of $1.8 million.

While this goal seemed impossible months ago, a recent donation from one of Jeffersonville’s most famous citizens has turned this pipedream into a reality.

“This location (the Fieldhouse) holds a special place in my heart,” said John Schnatter, JHS alumni, and founder and CEO of Papa John’s Pizza. “I grew up watching sports here as a kid, including local legends like Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, Mike Flynn. Jeffersonville has been good to me and I wanted to show my support for the community.”

Schnatter’s donation of $800,000 brings the Fieldhouse closer to meeting its goal of $1.8 million. Once this amount is reached, it will be renovated by the Jeffersonville Parks Department’s workgroup, Save the Fieldhouse.

The workgroup plans to use the money to pay for exterior brick work, restoration of the front facade, replacement and upgrades to both electrical system and bathroom, as well as replacing the heating system while adding air conditioning.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Charlie Nachand, son of former Jeff Parks Director Charles Nachand. “Without a donation like this, we would have no chance of reaching the $1.8 million we need to.”

Thanks to Schnatter’s donation, the Jeff Parks Department chose to add the southern Indiana native’s name to the historic fieldhouse, which will now be known as the John H. Schnatter-Nachand Fieldhouse.

“We were tasked to determine the fate of the John H. Schnatter-Nachand Fieldhouse,” explained Bill Burns, president of the Jeffersonville Park’s Authority. “At our first meeting, we knew the only option was to restore the building. Out of that, (the) workgroup born the thought of a private-public partnership to raise the money to restore the Fieldhouse.

“This project has been one of the most rewarding project I have had the privilege to work with,” Burns continued. “I never dreamed that the Fieldhouse had touched so many lives.”

According to the Parks Department, the Fieldhouse serves more than 15,000 people annually. Through the basketball and volleyball leagues, summer programs and Zumba lessons, the Fieldhouse still is in use to this day.

“I go to the Fieldhouse all the time,” said senior Tyler Wheeler. “These renovations are (going to) help bring in more people to play basketball with, and make the Fieldhouse even better than it already is.”

The John H. Schnatter-Nachand Fieldhouse is a historic building in Jeff that’ll continue to live on, and is expected to remain open throughout the renovations.

18 Sep 201726 Feb 2018 by kylesanders5308

PREVIEW: Girls soccer

The Jeffersonville girls soccer team is hungry for a comeback this year. With a record of 2-10-2 for the 2016-17 season, coach Jason Crane is looking for redemption.

“We always plan on improving our first touch and passing,” said Crane. “This year the extra improvement would be to gain some Red Devil pride and to get the job done.”

Junior Kylee Luce traveled to Spain over the summer with her club soccer team to participate in the Costa Blanca Cup. Luce thinks fans will be surprised with how much better the Devils have gotten this season.

“A lot of people think we are not a competitive team because of the results of the games, or our records from previous seasons. But if you actually come out to a game you would see how much we are improving and how much faster we play,” explained Luce. “We have a lot of potential this season.”

Freshman trio Olivia Jones, Kendra Salazar and Tiara Jones are who fans should look out for this year, according to Crane.

“Those three have some explosiveness about them, and within a year or two, could be hard to contain on the field,” said Crane.

Jones agreed with her coach’s opinion.

“I am most excited to see how much we grow as a team this season and these next four years,” Jones stated. “We have already shown so much progress since summer and I cannot wait to see how much we improve by the end of the season.”

18 Sep 2017 by adleyyy

‘The Devil’s Parlour’

story by Tomi Clark

Enthusiastic chants and shouts echo from the stands where Jeff High pride shines through, blindingly bright. The stadium lights add a spotlight on the field, which highlights the players running the field.

Jeff High’s new student section, The Devil’s Parlour, holler and laugh with one another when a touchdown, or an infallible pass, is made.

After teaming up with Parlour, one of downtown Jeffersonville’s newest restaurants, the student section is looking to make Friday night lights a bit more fun for everybody. Parlour is a new pizzeria located in downtown Jeff, near the base of the Big Four Walking Bridge.

In order for the student section to bear the pizzeria’s name, The Devil’s Parlour, the exchange was that in return, Parlour will provide discounts on pizza every once in awhile for the students.

“We’re partnering with them, and trying to get multiple years of going with them, to get the student section better,” said senior Trey Bottorff. He, along with seniors Gerrin Moore and Jay Williams, were responsible for organizing and getting this endeavor off of its feet.

For two weeks, student section shirts were sold for $15, but are now unavailable for purchase.

The purpose of the shirts is so students can rep them at games and around school; if they can’t follow the weekly football theme, the shirt is the perfect alternative.

“It’s something to center around,” Moore said of the sponsorship. “Once people get there, then they realize what a great thing it is, so it’s just bringing more attention to it so that more people can get out there and eventually realize how great of a thing we have here at Jeff.”

Their main goal is to convince more students to attend football games. Moore hopes if they give students a satisfactory outlet to come to, then more will frequent the student section.

“I want to give students a reason to come to the game and enjoy themselves, and I feel that partnering with someone like that will allow us to get more things for our students in order to bring them to the games,” Moore said. “And once you start getting kids to the games, then they can enjoy themselves, have fun and want to keep coming back.”

student section — The Devil’s Parlour, with the cheerleaders, at the Jeff vs Floyd game.

18 Sep 2017 by Tomi Clark

PREVIEW: Boys tennis

Written by: Bella Bungcayao

The boys tennis team is, and has been, a spotlight for Jeff High athletics, given their winning record and skilled players to come through the program recently.

Last season, the team placed as regional championships and won semi-state, as well as winning 12 out of 16 matches. They placed 6th at the John Shirley Invite, 3rd at Jasper Invite, and 2nd at JHS Classic.

“This team has great leadership and work ethic,” says coach Curt Roehm. “I can depend on them to put in all their effort during practice and a match.”

This is Roehm’s second season being the head coach for the tennis team, and was an assistant for previous head coach Mark Reilly two years back.

“I predict that this season will be very competitive for us, and we need to take it one match at a time. I do see us going on to Sectional and maybe even winning them,” Roehm says.

All of the players also have optimistic attitudes for the 2017 season, none more than senior Keith Asplund.

“The goal is to always improve from the previous season, which would mean a trip to state. We have a lot of potential as a team,” Asplund said.

Coach Roehm also sees potential with Asplund as a player to look out for.

“Keith is a tough kid both on the field and the classroom and fights hard. I see him going really far this season with the sport and leadership,” says Roehm.

Keith is not only a star on the court, but a leader in the school. Asplund is a co-president of student council and an all-around involved student.

“I love that the players on the team are all such good friends. We are a tight knit group of kids, so we always support each other,” Asplund says, commenting on the strength of the team.

Overall, the hope for the upcoming tennis season is extremely high and optimistic amongst the entire team. There is strong faith that the record will only grow higher than the level it’s already at.

18 Sep 201718 Sep 2017 by bellabungcayao

Boys Tennis (photos)

Sophomore Evan Thompson hits a forehand Friday night while practicing next to Junior Tommy Gregory

Junior Matthew Monroe serves at 30-40 in first round of Jasper tourmanment

Sophomore Joey Zelli hits a volley with Freshman Grant Paradowski Friday afternoon before Jeffersonville Invite began

Senior Jerid Inman returns floyds serve with a forehand Thrusday afternoon at the Foldy match

Senior Jerid Inman hits down the line in warm ups before a long match

one doubles team tracks a overhead.

Jerid Inman two singles warming up with Keith Asplund on Saturday morning

Jared wells four singles warming up at Jasper on Saturday morning

Senior Jerid Inman serves angist Floydś two singles player

Grant Paradowski three singles hits a backhand slice shot in warm ups saturday morning

Sophomore Gavin Lone hits a forehand to Junior Jared wells during warm ups alongside his partner Kyle Lemon

Sophomore Adam Crawford serves in first round of Jasper tournament.

Freshman Grant Paradowski jumps to return a ball before it hits the fence at the Jeffersonville High School Invite

Junior Juan hits a forehand to Sophomore Evan in warms up Friday afternoon before the Jeffersonville Invite

One singles Keith Asplund serves the first point against New Albany Friday night

Jeffersonville one and two doubles team warm up together before the Jeffersonville invite

Senior Luke Astle hits a forehand alongside Sophomore Jared Wells during warm ups before the Jeffersonville invite

Senior Ney Thaker hits a backhand in the match against Floyd

Junior Colby Kayrouz serves to break 30 all in the one doubles match against Castle

Keith Asplund hits cross courts to teammate and fellow senior Jerid Inman

Junior Blake Winchell hits a volley before the jeffersonville Invite begins

Sophomore Tein-Lu serves in a JV match against Floyd

Sophomore Joey Zelli hits a backhand slice to fellow Sophomore Ben Harbeson in warm ups Friday afternoon

Senior Keith Asplund serves to Foldy one singles

one doubles team comes back to the fence to discuss doubles strategy with Head Coach Curt Roehm

Sophomore Evan Thompson hits a forehand

Senior Trey Bottorff lunges to put away a forehand volley

Sophomore Jared Wells hits a forehand return before the Jeffersonville invite began

Freshman Charley Williams, JV one singles, serves to Floyd Thursday afternoon

Freshman Grant Paradowski plays three singles angist Floyd

Senior Jake Lemon warms up his serve for Friday nights match

Junior Kyle Lemon hits a backhand return to Senior Luke Astle

Coach Nathan Cross talks to Senior Trey Bottorff and Junior Colby Kayrouz

Freshman Charley Williams hits a backhand in a rally Friday night

Trey Bottorff serves game point at Jasper Tournament

two doubles team talks with Coach Cross

Freshman Bryce Vernon hits a forehand in warm ups Friday afternoon before the Jeffersonville invite

Keith Asplund one singles hitting a forehand in warms up at the Jasper tournament

Sophomore Adam Crawford hits a forehand return to the Jeffersonville one doubles team in warm ups

Junior Kyle Lemon hits a forehand slice drop shot to Senior Luke Astle in warm ups Friday afternoon

Sophomore Tien-Lu Huang vollies at the net at warm ups friday afternoon prepares for the Jeffersonville Invite

Sophomore Evan Thompson runs up to hit a short forehand before the Jeffersonville Invite

Junior Tommy Gregory hits a forehand at the Jeffersonville High School Friday afternoon

Senior Trey Bottorff hits a low backhand slice preparing for the jeffersonville invite

Senior Keith Asplund hits a forehand return to Floyd’s one singles Kyle poe

Junior Colby Kayrouz serves the first point in a new game as his partner Senior Trey Bottorff takes ready position to cover the net

Senior Gerrin Moore hits a forehand volley Friday afternoon before the Jeffersonville Invite

Senior Zach Giuffre hits a forehand in warm ups before Jeffersonville invite Friday afternoon

Senior Ney Thaker serves to Floyd JV

18 Sep 201726 Sep 2017 by emmakellis

2017 Female Athlete of the Year: Faith Denig

story by Tristan Jackson

Just a few short months ago, Jeffersonville High School’s softball team was coach-less and unsure if they would even be playing this season.

Now, with first-year skipper Mike Coons at the helm, the team has gotten off to a 5-4 start after finishing 7-9 one season ago.

The Devils’ improvement this year has been facilitated by the play of junior 2B/SS Faith Denig, who is batting .320 on the season. Denig has also tallied nine runs and five RBIs in the team’s first nine games.

“This year we’re all adapting to a new coaching style but we’re doing pretty good,” Denig said. “Next year I really think we’ll be a competition and a threat to others.”

Denig not only brings incredible talent to the softball team, but she brings a sense of veteran leadership, as she’s been playing on the Varsity level since her freshman year.

“Her positive attitude helps us out all the time,” said junior Lindsey Nelson. “Her mentality on the field helps push other people to do things that will help us out in the long run.”

While softball is Denig’s main focus, as she has already committed to play in college at Ohio Dominican, she still finds time to man the goalie position for the girls soccer team at Jeff.

“Some nights I don’t get home until eight or later, and then I still have to stay up and do homework and then get up early again for workout and practices,” Denig said, on playing both sports. “But you have to find time if you want to do it.”

Even with a busy schedule juggling two sports, Denig also finds time to be one of the leaders in the radio and TV department for Jeff High’s radio station, 98.5 WJHI.

“Faith is one of the most hard-working students in the entire radio and TV department.” said junior Jason Monihon.

Denig has proven to be fantastic in everything she has found herself involved in her at Jeff, and that has earned her high praise from her coaches.

“Whenever you have a player like Faith who shows up everyday, plays wherever you tell her to, works hard, and never complains, that’s the type of player you want on your team,” Coons said.

Beyond high school, Denig plans on attending Ohio Dominican on a softball scholarship and majoring in business and communications. If her time at Jeff is an any indication of her future, it looks very bright.

26 May 201719 Sep 2017 by jalinernest