Lunsford signs to Culver-Stockton

Fredericktown Senior Juliana Lunsford signed to Culver-Stockton, a college in Canton, Mo. Pictured with Fredericktown Athletic Director Joaby Sikes (left). Matt Morey, Democrat News

Feb. 18 — Fredericktown Senior Juliana Lunsford signed on to play soccer at Culver-Stockton in Canton on a scholarship.

Lunsford is the daughter of Lindell and Lacey Lunsford. She grew up in Fredericktown and played soccer since she was three years old. This spring will be her first year back playing soccer in Fredericktown after a two-year absence, during which she moved and played at St. Paul Lutheran High School in Park Hills.

Lunsford will be joining her brother, Tristan, at Culver-Stockton, who also plays soccer, and with whom she grew up playing on the Optimist Club team and Force. Now she’ll be able to practice with him “against his will,” she joked.

She chose Culver-Stockton because it aligns with her major in Biochemistry and allows her to play soccer. She hopes to be a radiologist.

Lunsford’s mom, Lacey, said Juliana got along great with the coach, “and they share the same birthday!”

Lunsford has played for the Optimist Club, Ghost, Force, and several other soccer teams in Fredericktown and across the region. At St. Paul, she played co-ed, one of only two girls on the team.

She thanked her coaches, her parents, and grandparents, who helped take her to lots of the games. Sometimes she drove as far as Illinois on the competitive traveling team with Brandon Hale when she was younger.

Lunsford’s signature move is perhaps the front flip.

She was advised by Fredericktown Lady Cats Soccer Coach Zak Keller not to do it in the gym, so she shared a video. On a basketball court, Juliana runs up to the ball and does a front flip, her hands cradling it in an arc over the field or basketball goal.

Lunsford said that she learned how to do that in 8th grade, starting on a trampoline. “I just practiced it in my yard and flipped until I got it.”

Keller said she does it in games sometimes to return a ball to the court.

This will be Keller’s first year as Lunsford’s coach, since he began in 2023, after she left for St. Paul. Lunsford also does cross-country, track, and basketball, but she has her preferences.

“I couldn’t get her to stay away from pre-season soccer practice during basketball season,” Keller said.

“I’m not quite sure where she’s going to fit, but she’s quick, and she’s got really good ball-handling skills,” he said. “So I’m sure she’ll be on an offensive.”

The first soccer practice of the season will be on March 2, where roles are assigned. This season will be mostly home games, Keller said.

Keller said that even though Lunsford moved back to Fredericktown for her last year of school, she adjusted quickly to the athletics and is already familiar with some of the students, who have years of soccer history behind them.