Logan-Rogersville golf team overcomes wrath of health issues to make state

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Logan-Rogersville will be competing for the Class 3 state title at Rivercut. And that's somewhat amazing when you consider that the Wildcats top-three players have all been dealing with health issues that could have limited their effectiveness.

Let's face it. Golf is a challenging sport.  And if you're good enough to play for a state championship, the last thing you need are afflictions reigning down like the plague on your golfers.

   "We started off with one with a back injury that turned into kidney stones," recounts head coach Keith Spaulding.  "We have one with a disorder that causes his joints to give him problems and he's now been battling a real bad wrist.  And we had one who came down with mono."

   Well, at least the locusts haven't descended on the Logan-Rogersville golf team, but the season's not over yet.

   Senior Weston Humble is the one with chronic joint-pain to the point where he needs five Ibruprofen just to get through a round.

   "It limits me in a lot of rotation on my wrists," Humble explained.  "And my shoulders, when I come back and swing, feel like they're going to come out.  It's really hard to adjust to when you have that kind of pain and you really can't get your wrist through and make good contact with the ball."

   As the conference tournament approached, sophomore Jackson VonBehren had a bout with mono.

   "I was having trouble eating and getting fluids to stay down," VonBehren recalled.  "So it was really draining my energy quickly.  The walking is really what hurt me the most.  I just get really drained."

   Von Behren finished first at districts despite that drained energy, and it was a good thing he was able to play because…

   "At 6:30 that morning as we're headed to Bolivar for districts I get a call and our number one golfer's mom says they're on the way to the hospital," Spaulding said.   

    And that would be junior Jacob Hefley, who missed districts after getting kidney stones.  But he returned to finish fourth at sectionals and help the team qualify for state.

   "It really means a lot," Hefley said of going to state.  "I didn't qualify for state last year.  I actually broke my tail-bone last year. So I've kind of been dealing with a couple of tough things.  Injuries and stuff like that."  

   That's an understatement for a team where three of the five players have overcome a lot   to qualify for state where they've finished second-once and fourth-twice over the past five years. And rather than wallow in self-pity with a a woe-is-me attitude….

    "It's made us stronger as a team," Humble said.

    "It's really been a confidence builder," VanBehren adds.

   "It's a teaching tool that God's given us a chance to teach young kids how to handle adversity," Spaulding explains.

   "We've been able to handle adversity and we're ready to go to state," Hefley said with a smile.

   Just keep the locusts away.

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