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GOLF Jacinta Pikunas Boardman girls
Jacinta Pikunas was the best local golfer in this year’s Division I girls state tournament. The senior shot a 78 to finish in a nine-way tie for 15th.
The tournament was limited to one day due to inclement weather.
“The tournament was still fair for everybody. Everybody had to play one round,” Pikunas said. “I don’t know that it worked in my favor, but it definitely wasn’t unfair.
“I didn’t do as well as I liked, but I did my best and that’s all you can ask for,” she added.
Pikunas was the state runner-up as a junior. She closes out her prep career as a four-time AAC player of the year. She also owns two individual school records and shares two others.
Pikunas said honesty, integrity and patience are the lessons she’s learned from golf. “If you make a mistake, touch a ball or move something, it’s a penalty stroke and that’s on you. It’s your responsibility to basically turn yourself in and do what’s right and keep the playing field even,” she said. “I don’t always like to because it can ruin a round and affect the mental side of your game.
“You know you have to do what’s right. It’s unfair to the rest of the playing field if you don’t rightly assess what you’ve done.”
The youngest of three siblings, Pikunas was home-schooled with her sister and two brothers. She was the lone Spartan while her siblings went to Cardinal Mooney. It took her about a semester to get acclimated.
“Home-schooling, you can do everything on your own time. You can wake up at 6 a.m. in the morning — which I liked to do — and finish everything early. At school, you’re on a set schedule, you have to be at class at this time and be at school at a certain time or you’re late,” Pikunas said. “In a way, it was more on you. The responsibility was on you.”
Her feats earned her a full-ride to Akron she is satisfied with her body of work at BHS.
“I always give my best effort in everything I do, so I can’t ask for anything more,” Pikunas said.