Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2007)
%007_ _____________________ Sports__________________ __________ ii Bank Slalom competition successful for Snowboard Team m CHRIS GARFIELD______________ Staff Reporter After a frustrating wait, the Snowboard Team has finally practiced at its home resort, Mt. Hood Meadows. For some riders, Meadows conditions and runs on Jan. 3 were nothing compared to those of last year. "Not many jumps were groomed and the pipe wasn't even open," Mackenzie Bruns, junior, said. Fortunately, many of those problems have been repaired in the last couple weeks. Even still, Meadows has many advantages in comparison to the team's alternate resort, Ski Bowl. "There is more of a variety of jumps and rails. It also has a nicer lodge and better chili fries!" Bruns said. At the last team practice, members enjoyed deep powder and the ongoing snowfall, which made up for lack of groomed jumps and no pipe earlier in the season. Coaches continued to familiarize themselves with teammates and help the team members complete tricks that they have never done before. "Highlights of the last practice was Keegan Warrington's smooth melan frontside 3, a solid cab 3 from Tanner Kewley, and a near miss Cab 3 from Chadwick Boggess," Jamie Kelso, coach, said. They also helped prepare for the upcoming Bank Bryan Toti, sophomore, competes in the boarder cross competition held on Jan. 14. Toti took ninth place in 36.6 seconds. Photo submitted by Nanette Boggess Slalom competition, formally known as Boarder Cross, which will be the team's first competition of the year. The Bank Slalom competition, which is individually timed racing, went very well for the team. Spencer Smith, junior, came in first with an impressive time of 35.14 seconds and the Ski Team gets great fresh powder start u L auren L evine ______________ co-Editor-in-Chief After more than two months of training, the ski season has finally begun and it is clear that this season will be very different from last season. Out of 23-25 racers who were on the team last year, only a small handful, three to five, have returned. ^ " T h e team was mostly B iio r s so they all left," Eliot Smith, sophomore, said. Smith is among many others who are on the team for the first time this season. "It's pretty much a whole new team this year," Sandra Slossar, Ski Team parent representative, said. Racers prepared for the season by spending two months dry land training which includes runnning. Now training on the mountain, the team travels to Mt. Hood every Thursday night to ski for two-and-a- half to three hours. "They set up a course for us on Thursdays like the one we'll be racing on Saturday and we will run it five to ten times. Our coaches watch us on each run and give us tips on how to do better and improve our technique," Paige Alii, sophomore, said. On Jan. 6, six racers from West Linn competed in the Christine Cato Memorial Race at Timberline. The race is sponsored by the Cato family in memory of their daughter who died skiing. In the Boy's Varsity individual race, Smith placed 68th followed by David Kawecki, freshman, at 76th; Ryan Walch, freshman, 100th, and Alexander Otey 101st. For Girl's Varsity individual Chelsea Spitzer, junior, placed 74th. Even though they have lost the majority of racers and the season has just begun, coaches already have high hopes and are optimistic for this year. "I think the kids are loving it and will represent the school really well and show their school spirit," Slossar said. "I think Bruce (Rodway, coach) is impressed with the skiers and their ability and sees great potential." "I think we'll improve a lot, I mean we have a lot to work on but we'll get better as time goes on," Smith said. next West Linn competitor was Collin Weeks in fifth. The girl's team killed it, taking the top four times. Hana Jacover, senior, took first place in 36.5 seconds. Following Jacover was Brynn Hayes, junior, Kesslie Carlson- Ham, senior, and Bruns. "The conditions for the competition were mediocre. The wind was blowing pretty fierce but the course still maintained a good amount of powder," Bruns said. There have been numerous injuries so far this season. Andrea Bryson, sophomore, broke her arm during a competition; Danielle Ramsby, senior, may have fractured her back; and Jason Shook, senior, broke his collar bone. "I broke [my collar bone] in two places, tore all the ligaments. I had to have an open reduction surgery, and now have a titanium plate and seven screws holding my collar bone together. I was working on the wall ride and just wasn't focusing, slipped out and came down on my shoulder. One wrong step and you're in recovery for four to six months." Shook said. The next competition is half pipe and on Sat. Jan. 27 at Mt. Hood Meadows. Brooke earns Second Team All-State a M ary S cofield _____________ Staff Reporter After playing soccer since she was five years old, Taylor Brooke, sophomore, received a big honor when she was awarded First Team All-League, and Second Team All-state for girls soccer at the forward position this year. Winning All-State means out of all the players in the state, Brooke was chosen as one of the best. Winning All-League, is the same concept except the players are chosen from only Three Rivers League. "It is a big honor and it's pretty cool," Brooke said. Soccer is something Brooke loves to play because it is a fast-paced game and a player needs to be able to work well with teammates to be victorious. "To be effective, you need to have a lot of ball control and a good sense of the pace of the game. Taylor Brooke, sophomore, was awarded Second Team All-State and First Team All-League for girls soccer. She hopes to continue to play soccer through high school and to play at University of Portland or U niversity of California in Los Angeles after graduation. Photo by Ann Breyne Endurance and skill also plays an important role. It is time consuming, but completely worth it," Brooke said. This year's Girls Varsity Soccer Team was a young team with mostly sophomores, and had to overcome some big challenges. The team ended with a record of 5-4-3. "We did have some really good games this year that will make it all the more exciting next year," Brooke said. Ronaldhinho, a Brazilian National Team player, is one of Brooke's favorite soccer players. She admires his vision of the field and his amazing foot skills. Besides soccer, Brooke likes to snowboard and go see movies with her friends. Brooke plans to continue playing soccer through high school and into college. She would like to play for University of Portland or University of California in Los Angeles because they are prestigious soccer programs closer to home. Brooke currently plays for the Southside Soccer Club year round and has traveled to California, Arizona, Idaho and Washington with the team. America continues excessive packaging, prioritizes profit over environment continued from page 4 Our society has become too concerned with convenience, so we have resorted to extremely overpackaged peanut butter slices instead of a traditional jar and knife. I find this appalling. A simple toy truck may come with a cardboard box with a plastic window, multiple plastic trays to hold little objects, and twisty ties to hold it together. What a waste! Since half of is garbage, why not use all recyclable items or just a cardboard box that fits the item? Obviously America has a problem, but it's also obvious that there are multiple solutions. The easiest solution is to f -. p|| I jj impose lllli iilii i l l ! , higher . recycled or composted. The government needs to create new laws on packaging possibly according to a ratio between the object's mass and its packaging. Industries should be forced to use almost all "X -X standards and limits on packaging. Almost all of the trash we produce could be recyclable packaging and be obligated to only use a certain percent of non-recyclable items in their packaging. The packaging industry needs to start phasing out petrochemical products. If the companies do not comply with the laws, major fines should be imposed. So what can you as an individual do? First, make sure you have bins for recycling, compost, and garbage in a convenient place in your house. Recycling is one of the easiest things that you can do. You can also shop for environmentally biodegradable containers, buy in bulk and repackage in reusable containers, or buy only products that feature low-impact packaging. If we don't do something soon our natural resources will be depleted and our world will become one big dumpster. Waste is only one problem in our world, but it is one that we can solve. The solution starts with a single person, and that person can be you. Reduce, reuse, precycle and recycle. Write to your legislator for tougher packaging laws.
