Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2006)
Sports 2006 11 Girls' Varsity Basketball Team looks to dominate u C alley L athrop _____________ Staff Reporter Last year, the Varsity Girls' Basketball team finished w ith a record of 10-4 in league, and were 18-8 including off-season and tournam ent games. Follow ing their second place finish in the Three Rivers League, H ead Coach Glen Lee anticipates even more victories, and hopes for first place in league. A tough loss to Central Catholic last year, stopped their advancem ent in the playoffs, and the team faced m any obstacles, including injuries and illness. "We need to im prove on health. Being healthy, staying w arm outside, w atching out for the flu, etc," Lee said. Lee added that a team is m ade in off-season, because that is where the players gain practice and experience. "They've put in a lot of w ork in the off season, and played over 35 gam es this summer. They are w orking hard in tw o-player w orkouts, open gym, SA Q ( Speed, Agility, Quickness) and the w eight room," Lee said. The season started w ith M idnight M adness on Nov. 6 at 12 a.m. An optional overnight event, its aim is to get players pum ped and ready for tryouts, and to have som e fun as well. The first Varsity game, held Thanksgiving w eekend, w as against a team of alum ni players from previous West Linn teams. The Varsity girls were able to sneak by the form er players, 41-38. Girls basketball hopefuls line up during tryouts which were held Nov. 6, 7 and 8. Last year, the team finished with an overall record of 18-8, and placed second in Three Rivers League. Photo by Sarah Chicoine Varsity Football Team ousted from Cross playoffs by Beaverton in heartbreaker , J aimie L orenzini ____________ Staff Reporter The Varsity Football Team was considered the underdog by its competitors and by the preseason polls out at the beginning of the season. "I don't think we were underdogs. But I think we played with a chip on our shoulders because we weren't given a lot of respect," Ron Chappell, head coach, said. The Lions used the * disrespect as a motivator to achieve a 5-1 record in the Three Rivers League and a 7-2 record overall, which qualified them for the second place TRL spot in the playoffs. The Lions hit a five game winning streak that matched them up with the Metro League number four team, Beaverton. The Beavers came out of a tough league which includes Jesuit, Westview and Southridge. Southridge finished third in Metro and beat TRL champion Lake Oswego earlier in the season. The second place finish allowed the Lions to play their first home playoff game since 1999. Despite their efforts, Beaverton beat the Lions, 38-28. The team went into halftime with a 14-12 lead but turnovers in the third quarter allowed the Beavers to take the lead. The turnovers did not stop the Lions from putting out their best effort Friday night. recognition, including two sophomores, Mitchell Gaulke and Josh Oltman. Other accomplishments for the team were a third place state rank in recognition of a 3.26 team GPA and beating Clackamas for the first time In the fourth quarter, West in seven years. Lane Locke Linn forced Beaverton to and Zac White, seniors, fumble in the endzone. were named scholar athletes Kyle Quinn, senior, had the and Locke received a $2,000 last touchdown of the season scholarship. which capped off a great year Next year the Lions will for him. Despite the team's return many skill position loss, the players remained in players. Erik Koczian and high spirits. Justin Monahan, juniors, "It (the season) was good. • return to take over starting We (the team) had a lot of receiver duties. Kraus, junior, chemistry," Kyle Kraus, junior, will take over Quinn's spot at said. Chappell agreed. running back. Justin Williams, "This was a very special junior, will again take over season," Chappell said. "This blocking duties for Kraus at is a group of players that are fullback. a lot of fun to work with. Other returners will be Josh They work hard. They are Thurston, junior, at defensive very unselfish. They put the back, and Oltman on offense. team first. They're just a great Bryce Baker, sophomore, will group of guys. It's (the season) take over as quarterback next also very special because they year. were picked to finish fourth or On the line, the Lions return fifth in their league, and they starters Tommy Patrick, junior, exceeded expectations." and Gaulke. Several JV players Chappell was named TRL will step up to play next year Coach of the Year. Thirty to fill the vacancies left by players received all league graduating seniors. O C / u D t/ / I staff Reporter al6:41and B em ertw asn behind with a 16:46. Mon was also named to the First Team. On Nov. 4, the State Cham pionships were held at Lane to State. 'T h e team has a good team CommunityCollegeinEugene. atmosphere; they motivated The girls Varsity placed twelfth each other really well," Jenni in the State. Nowlin placed Denekas, senior, said. ninth running a 19:12 and was TaylorNowlin,sophomore, less than three seconds off her finished third at Districts with personal record whileSeigneur a time of 19:37 and Rachel placed forty-seventh running a Seigneur, junior, finished ninth 20:27 and was eleven seconds with a time of 20:16 earning off her personal record, them spots on the Three Riv- "Our strength is that we ers League First Team. Taylor have a good depth as a team/' also earned State recognition Bemert said, and qualified to compete in Both the Boys’ and Girls'JV the Oregon-Washington Bor- teams won at Districts. They ran undefeated and are look der clash. ing forward to next year. The "It was a worked hard. When we work leaders of the girls at Districts together we are pretty good," were Alyssa Jemigan, junior, i .....'-'--I............J who placed first with a time The Boys' Varsity Team im- of 21:39 and Sara Myre, junior, proved over last year, moving who placed second with a time to fourth place in the league, of 21:41. The leaders of the boys up from seventh place. No team were Logan Kelly, fresh- runners advanced to State man, who placed first with a time of 18:08 and Tyler Har mWê^mSÆ mmà Girls' soccer ends successfully Staff Reporter Photo submitted by Linda MacClanathan over c]ose *0 a minute. Morrow ran The Girls' Varsity Cross Country Team capped an im- j rr pressive season as dual meet champions and by winning u L exi W elp ___________________ Justin Senff, senior defensive tackle, attempts to regain control during the game against McKay on Nov. 3. The Lions fought their way into overtime, but lost in a narrow defeat, 36-35. In a hom e game against the Sandy Pioneers on Dec. 1, the team w on 57-28. The team also w on in the Tip-off Classic on Dec. 1, bringing them to 3-0. In another hom e game, they beat Forest Grove on Dec. 5, 63-50. On Dec. 8, the Varsity girls lost their first non conference m atch up against Beaverton, 37-51. U pcom ing gam es include a non-league game at Benson on Dec. 15 at 7:15 p.m. and the Lake Oswego Interstate Shootout. The first game in the tourney is against Lincoln on Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m. "We need to w ork on just being consistent in practices and w ith game situations. H alf-court gam e and lay ups w ith transitions could be im proved," Lee said. The Varsity Girls' Soccer Team ended well with a fifth place finish in the Three Rivers League. "We were a very young team, which included 10 sophomores and one freshman," Joey Leonetti, head coach for the past nine seasons, said. "Our senior captains, Megan Foster, Elizabeth Sloop and Susan Schrank, did a great job this year keeping everybody positive when we were struggling with injuries," Leonetti said. The juniors on the team this season were led by Amy Kestek, in her second year on the team and Leonetti said she will "definitely be an important leader next year." Other juniors on the team included Erika Busch, Samantha Demars, Dana Bush and Jordan Gilbertson. In their first year on Varsity, Leonetti cited their contributions to the defense and midfield. He looks forward to them comprising the starting line up next year. filris tfarsly S etter___________ a continued on page 14
