Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2007)
I 10 Sports ____________________________________ Mail l Two new coaches inspire Girls' Lacrosse Team u M alia C hong _______________ Photo Editor The Girls' Lacrosse Team is off to a great start this season. Two new coaches will be working along with Allister Bunch, head coach. Tess O'Shaughnessy and Audrey Sheppard are both graduates of the West Linn's Lacrosse program established by Hilary Gilmore in 1997. O'Shaughnessy has played lacrosse for six years, including three years at WLHS, two years at Washington State University, and a summer for the Spokane Collegiate Woman's team. "As a new coach to the program, I feel my biggest contribution will be the experience and knowledge I gained from playing the sport for many years and keeping up to date with the evolving skills and strategy of the game," O'Shaughnessy said. Sheppard played lacrosse all four years during high school, and was a valuable player on the NW Regional team at nationals. She is looking forward to bringing a new coaching strategy to the team. "I think it will be important to focus on fundamentals of the game and build team camaraderie," Sheppard said. Boys' Lacrosse set high standards u M egan B utts ______________ Staff Reporter The Boys' Varsity Lacrosse Team has a history of success and plans to continue its success in the upcoming season. "Our goal is to make the Final Four and hopefully play for the State Championship," Mark Flood, head coach, said. Flood has been the coach for all 14 years there has been a lacrosse team at West Linn. His team has made it a tradition to go to the Final Four and this year expects to do the same. "We always go to the Final Four," Flood said. League opponent Lakeridge and the Lions have been the two most successful teams in the state. It seems that one of the most difficult challenges for West Linn this season will be to beat the Pacers. Team members are hopeful they will do just that. "I think we can play them. By the end of the season we will have a lot of experience so I expect it will be good," Ryan Janoff, senior, and a returning captain, said. Home games will be March 20 against Rex Putnam; April 3 against Riverdale; April 23 against Oregon City; April 25 against Clackamas and May 1 against arch-rival Lakeridge. Bunch is looking forward to the new changes this season. In conjunction with hiring two new coaches, Bunch has many goals for the players. The three main goals are: for everyone in the program to improve, to be competitive within the league, and to make it to playoffs. The ultimate goal is to compete in the Sate championship game. This year the Varsity roster was cut from 20 players to 16. Only the 16 best make Varsity. Bunch thinks last year too * many Varsity players missed out on game time while on the bench. The solution is to have 6-10 swingers who play on both JV and Varsity. That will maximize their Varsity experience while allowing them playing time. Their next home game is tonight against South Ridge High School from 8pm to 9:15pm. "The girls are going to do as well as they will allow themselves to do," Bunch said. He is raising the bar and expecting the girls to give 110%; because once a player is on Varsity, she is not guaranteed that spot, and must continue to work hard and earn it. "I'm very honored to be part of the program and to continue to watch it expand and develop. Coaching West Linn Lacrosse is a great way to stay involved with the sport and give back to a community that gave so much to me when I was a student," O'Shaughnessy said. Kelsey McCarty, senior, takes it up the field to pass to her offense against Lake Oswego. The Lions beat the Lakers soundly, 10-3. Photo by Malia Chong Girls' Golf looks for repeat; boys hope to return m J on H elmkamp _____________ co-Sports Editor The West Linn golf teams have made name for themselves with the girls taking first place in the Three Rivers League last year and the boys team taking first two years ago. "Last year we were second in league, we won District, and got to go to State. Only two teams out of the league go to State, so it was nice to be one of the tw o," Ron Wells, girl's coach, said. They have seven, possibly eight, players returning, but will miss graduates Whitney Climes and Danielle Ranallo. "Those two were solid players. They played a big role in our team's success," Wells said. Due to their success over the last two years, the interest in the golf program has almost doubled. "This year we have 20 girls trying out, and we're going to cut it down to 12. It's kind of unusual that w e're going to have to cut players, since over the last two years there hasn't been much interest in our program. In the past, every girl who tried out made the team. It's nice having this wide of a selection of girls to choose from ," Wells said. After reaching State last year, they look to stay on top of the league with this year's group. The boys' team dropped to fourth in the TRL last year after suffering from personnel issues, but team members have confidence in coming back strong. "Last year was an off-year for us. There was an incident with some of the Varsity players that held us back, but this year we're going to work hard, bond together as a team, and rub "Q-Tip" (Jackson Henniger)'s head for good luck," Jordan Hongo, junior, said. Every day after school, the golf team has only 10 minutes to get down to the locker room, change, and be on the bus that takes them to the Oregon Golf Club where they practice from 3:30-6:30 p.m. The golf team practices every day, whether it's pouring down rain or the sun's shining. "Golf is the hardest game in the world, and it's even more mentally challenging," Hongo said. At their tournaments, they select five of the 12 players to play, and at the end, the top four scores from the team are added together. "What's interesting about golf is that you're individually playing for your own score, but at the same time you're playing for your team," Hongo said. Twenty-seven boys tried out, six of whom were returning from last year. The team was cut to 12. "We've got a talented group this year," Hongo said. Upcoming competitions for the Varsity boys are at Stonecreek on March 19, Waverly Country Club on April 2 and Arrowhead Country Club on April 9. Varsity girls will compete at Oswego Lake Country Club on March 19, Stonecreek on April 2 and Oregon City Golf Club on April 9. LeVeque brings experience in return to Varsity Softball u I ke M c G innis _____________ Staff Reporter The Girls Softball team has a new coach for the 2007 season, Jamie LeVeque, math teacher. LeVeque had been head .softball coach for the Lions for 11 years, from 1990 to 2001. He also had experience in Portland for six years previous to coaching at West Linn but stopped coaching after the 2001 season to focus on coaching his son and daughter. After last year's head coach Diane Shantin stepped down, the job opened. "The job was open, I threw my name in the hat," LeVeque said. There was only one other applicant. "(It is) a nice change for our team," Susan Schrank, senior shortstop, said. LeVeque said there are huge differences between the games of baseball and softball. Mainly, the strategy is different and softball has underhand pitching. LeVeque said a pitcher in softball experiences less fatigue than in baseball and pitchers tend to dominate a game more in softball than in baseball. "The wear and tear of a baseball pitcher is physically harder than softball," LeVeque said. The only pitcher with Varsity experience in this year's rotation is Michelle Radulesk, sophomore. LeVeque also stated he expects some freshmen pitchers to step up. Kassandra Vernon, senior first base, and Schrank are two seniors with Varsity experience who will be a factor in this year's season. "It'll be a building year, got a young team," Schrank said. The new facilities at Rosemont Ride Middle School played a factor in scheduling practices. LeVeque said it is nice to have the batting cages for those rainy days. The team will take a trip to Las Vegas to play four games against Bonanza, Clark, Cimarron and Foothill High Schools. LeVeque said all of those teams are very good. In the Three Rivers League, LeVeque said Lake Oswego and Oregon City are tough and that Putnam has a good history. But, he really isn't sure what to expect from the other team's in the TRL. "To be honest with you, I've been out. It'll be all new to me," LeVeque said when it came to looking at other teams. The Lions played two home games already, but they have one on March 20 against Reynolds at Rosemont Ridge Middle School at 4:30 p.m. League play will begin March 22 at Lake Oswego at 4 p.m. Experienced team shows promise lo p B illy iftlfSig liiB iin iii u continued from page 9 Unfortunately, on top of their loss, the B-side lost one of its players. N icholas Erickson, junior, was crushed beneath one of the larger players from Tualatin and m ade his way off the field with a hurt shoul der. After further analysis by doctors, it was discovered that he had shattered his col larbone in two places. "I really didn't feel it because of the adrenaline," Erickson said. Despite their loss of not only a game, but also a m em ber of the team, Tsutsumi still saw a silver lining. "We kicked and passed really w ell, and really w orked as a team. But, the m ost im por tant thing still is to have fun," Tsutsumi said. Tackling and supporting passes are going to be a focus of the team this year as w ell as kicking. O n M arch 3, the A-side con quered one of its long stand ing rivals, North Clackamas, in a 22-12 win. During the M cM in n v ille tou rn am en t earlier this season, West Linn lost to N orth Clackam as in a short 30 minute m ini-m atch and were determ ined not to relive that experience. Through training and team work, the boys came through w ith a win, giving them a 2-0 start to the season. The boys look to take on Eastside, third in the league, on tomorrow. "After w atching them (at their practice) they aren't the team they w ere last year, but they're still going to be a challenge," Dustin Audirsch, junior, said. Com bined with the hard w ork they've put in this sea son and their unified goal for achievem ent, the boys are on the right path to success. Living under the shadow of the successful girls’ team, the boys are out to make a nam e for themselves.
