ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Lorrissa Dunfee is passionate about many things in life.

Two of those near the top of the list are mental health and Ohio State football.

So, it’s completely understandable when Dunfee, who works for the OSU Extension Office in Belmont County, saw those things intersect, she found herself a bit nervous.

Dunfee recently spoke to the Buckeye football coaching staff and the support staff that works inside the Ohio State University Woody Hayes Athletic Center about suicide prevention through the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) method.

“(Death by suicide) is a very tough topic and I am very appreciative of Ohio State allowing me to speak,” Dunfee said. “I’ve taught a lot of these classes and sometimes it’s more well received than others, but I could not have asked for a better group. They actively participated and afterward several came up and shared different things with me.”

Even as she drove to Columbus the morning of the first session, Dunfee still found herself in disbelief that she was chosen to serve as the speaker.

Dr. Candice Williams, who is an athletic counselor at Ohio State, first reached out to Dunfee in February. She had searched the QPR National Institute website and reached out about instructors in Ohio.

“My name was one of the names given and Dr. Williams looked me up and I think the fact that I sat on the board for the state coalition may have put me over the top,” Dunfee said. “Maybe my affiliation with OSU, but they had really vetted me well and told me that they’re very ‘cognizant of who they let into the building.’

After going back and forth on a few dates, Dunfee spoke just two weeks ago in the immediate aftermath of spring practice.

“There were a lot of logistics involved, but I was more than willing to be flexible,” Dunfee said. “We could have done it virtually, but Coach (Ryan) Day felt like I needed to be there in person.”

There were two sessions. The first was the entire coaching staff and the second was for the other staff members.

“QPR is a national program that’s designed for the general population to be able to learn and it looks at seeing warning signs,” Dunfee said. “There is no medical background needed.”

The program takes upwards of 80 minutes to complete and during the session, Dunfee had the coaches do some “role playing.”

“We had one person serve as a player and then the coach where they have to ask the question, ‘are you suicidal?'” Dunfee said. “Afterward, we talked about it and how it’s not an easy question to ask and it’s an uncomfortable situation, especially the closer we are to someone, the harder it is to ask because, naturally, you don’t want a particular answer.”

Dunfee was overwhelmed at the feedback she received from the coaches in the training.

“Going into that environment and talking to a group of football coaches, you’d think you’d get some eye rolling or something, but these coaches were all totally engaged,” Dunfee said. “Afterward, I had people coming up to me with tears in their eyes because they know someone suffering from mental health issues. It really did my heart good.”

Because of the volume and the class size being limited to upwards of 30, the Buckeyes’ players did not go through training. However, head coach Ryan Day “is open to exploring options” for the players in the future.

“Coach Day and I talked about virtual training or just training the position group leaders,” Dunfee said.

Due to an unforeseen circumstance, Day didn’t take Dunfee’s class, but he told her afterward that he will go through it soon.

“Coach Day made time to speak to me the second day after the training and he wanted to know how it went and how it was received,” Dunfee recalled. “He was very appreciative and thanked me for coming to do it.”

Suicide prevention and mental health are hot-button issues around the country, but especially in collegiate athletics.

Day and his wife Nina have a foundation through Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus dealing with suicide prevention.

Ohio State football was in the national news recently when Harry Miller — an offensive lineman from Georgia — came out publicly and said he contemplated suicide during his time as a collegiate athlete. Miller has medically retired from the sport, but remains with the Buckeyes and was on the sidelines at the spring game a couple of weeks ago.

Dunfee is hopeful that getting her foot in the door with the Buckeyes football program could lead to more chances to get in front of coaches and student-athletes at multiple levels.

She indicated opportunities to speak to the volleyball and soccer teams at OSU could be on the horizon.

Overall, Dunfee, who worked in mental health for 10 years at Ohio Valley Medical Center before it closed,

Since the training is for all people, of any age, Dunfee would like to get in front of high school coaches, too.

“My daughter is 18 and going to be graduating in May and I have said for a while that I wish I could get this into the OHSAA and it becomes one of the mandatory trainings that coaches go through,” Dunfee said.

​​WVU BMAC CARAVAN

The annual caravan stop will occur on Tuesday, May 10 at River City in Wheeling.

The event, which benefits WVU’s MAC and BMAC Upper Ohio Valley endowed athletic scholarship, will feature WVU coaches.

Slated to attend the event, which runs from noon until 2 p.m., are head football coach Neal Brown, head basketball coach Bob Huggins, who was recently elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, and newly hired women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit.

Tickets for the event are $50 per person. For more information, please contact John S. Marshall at 740-695-4262.

OGLEBAY PARK

GOLF CLUB

The West Sports Bar Tournament was held at Speidel Golf Club on April 24 with a solid field of players taking part.

Bryan Myers made it two wins in as many events, fending off Yadhu Urs for the win by a shot. Myers carded a 69, which was one better than the runnerup.

Justin Doerr was third with a 75, while Hunter Frye was fourth with a 76. Joey Seabright was fifth with a 76 and Mike Wetzel was sixth, also posting a 76.

The remainder of the top 10 in the medal division were Brooke Garrison (78), Paul Kurtz (78), Richard Humphrey (78) and Sean McFarland (78).

In the handicap scoring portion of the event, Penn Kurtz was the winner with a round of 71. Finishing second was David Sims.

Tim Roberts and Joe Hartman were third and fourth, respectively, while Austin Panhorst finished with a 72 to round out the top five.

The balance of the top 10 were Roger Waialae (73), Todd Nickoles (73), Shane Glass (74), Jay Davis (75) and Joe Grilli (75).

There were four skins recorded during the round. They went to Doerr (No. 6), Frye (No 8), Garrison (No. 14) and Jason Bogers (No. 15).

SETH’S SCOOPS

JOHN MARSHALL has hired Melanie Knutsen as its new girls golf coach. She takes over for Bridget Carnahan, who retired following last season.

THE WHEELING University women’s golf team – led by Buckeye Local graduate Emily Holzopfel – will tee it up this week in Kansas City in the NCAA Division II regionals. The tournament will be held Monday through Wednesday. The Cardinals will take part in a practice round on Sunday.

THE OHSAA unveiled its new logo at a meeting in Cambridge last week. Officials will not be required to buy new garments to reflect the change … just yet.

THE BRACKETS for the Ohio softball tournament will be established on Sunday. The baseball brackets will be set on May 8.

THE WEST Virginia sectional softball tournament will begin this week and it once again is a double-elimination format.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com