Lugar leaves her mark

Mid-Prairie senior plays her final athletic contest in front of a home crowd

By Paul D. Bowker
Posted 7/7/21

Perhaps a Mid-Prairie run had never meant so much to Golden Hawks senior softballer Myah Lugar.

When a Golden Hawks teammate crossed home plate to finish off their victory against Iowa City Regina …

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Lugar leaves her mark

Mid-Prairie senior plays her final athletic contest in front of a home crowd

Mid-Prairie senior Myah Lugar and her parents, Molly and Steve.
Mid-Prairie senior Myah Lugar and her parents, Molly and Steve.
PAUL D. BOWKER/THE NEWS
Posted

Perhaps a Mid-Prairie run had never meant so much to Golden Hawks senior softballer Myah Lugar.

When a Golden Hawks teammate crossed home plate to finish off their victory against Iowa City Regina Catholic on June 29, Lugar raced out of the dugout to join in a Mid-Prairie celebration.

The Golden Hawks had scored seven runs in the sixth inning to turn a 5-2 lead into a mercy-rule 12-2 win in the second game of a doubleheader.

But on this night at Mid-Prairie Middle School, it was more than just another victory.

For Lugar, the team’s only senior, it was the final inning of her final home game ever. In any sport.

Moments after the celebration, Lugar said, “I’m so grateful to be a Golden Hawk.”

Between games of the doubleheader, in a Senior Night celebration that featured only Lugar and her parents, Myah’s emotions ranged from smiles and laughter to tears. Happy tears.

“She’s just a phenomenal kid,” Mid-Prairie softball head coach Matt Hoeppner said.

Lugar’s athletic achievements in softball, basketball and volleyball have been impressive at Mid-Prairie. She holds the school record for 3-pointers in basketball, her favorite sport. She was the starting pitcher in 27 of Mid-Prairie’s 39 softball games during the regular season and had seven of the team’s 10 wins. She started nine other games in the outfield. Her 40 hits ranked second on the team. In volleyball last fall, she had 50 kills and 89 digs.

In softball, it was more than pitches and hits and runs. The Golden Hawks had a new head coach. The team was  loaded with underclassmen, including a pair of eighth-grader starters. As the only senior, Lugar was cast as the obvious leader.

“Early in the season, her and I just kind of chatted, and I said to her, ‘You could be potentially the person, considering you’re the only senior, you can be the one person that’s the turnaround of this program,’ “ Hoeppner said. “Hopefully, in three or four years, they look back and know it was that season.”

The thought of that produces a smile from Lugar.

The Golden Hawks won 10 games during the regular season, nine more than 2020 and more than any single-season total of Lugar’s softball career.

After every defensive out, unless there is a runner on base and play is live, Lugar personally runs up to the Golden Hawk who got the out and fist-bumps her. It is the action of a leader.

“She’s just phenomenal. She’s a leader through and through with everything she does, vocally, actions, top to bottom just a phenomenal kid,” Hoeppner said. “I’m not saying we wouldn’t win games if she wasn’t here. The potential is there. But she’s the stronghold a little bit. The girls look up to her.”

Hoeppner, who is also the girls basketball coach at West Liberty, has a unique perspective. He has not only coached Lugar in softball, but he coached against her in hoops. When West Liberty played Mid-Prairie, there were two key defensive words: Find Myah.

“When she had the ball,” Hoeppner said, “it was, ‘Shooter, shooter.’ Truth be told, she hit 3s against us regardless. Good shooters do that.”

It didn’t take long for Hoeppner to realize Lugar’s skills.

“Even before I knew I was coaching here, you could still tell she was a phenomenal kid by the way she carries herself on the court,” Hoeppner said. “A credit to her family and the way she’s come through her athletic career.”

With the beginning of the postseason this week, the clock is ticking down on the high school part of that athletic career.

The University of Iowa is next.

Lugar is about to become a Hawkeye, but not in basketball and not in softball and not in volleyball. She is joining the women’s rowing team on a partial scholarship. At Iowa, she’ll be reunited with Mid-Prairie alum Shae Becker, a rising junior.

They’ll be rowers to watch, for sure.

 

Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.