2008
____________________________
Sports_________________ __________ ?
As weather warms, athletes fire up for spring sports
E m m a l ie
Cox &
M ax H ays
Staff Reporters
Spring sports, including
baseball, softball, tennis,
lacrosse, golf and track, begin
before the winter season
is even over. Practices are
underway and teams are
looking to contend in the
Three Rivers League and
beyond.
O O G l BASEBALL
In the immortal words of
Sammy Sosa, "Baseball has
been very, very good to me."
It's been good for West Linn
over the last few years as well.
The team finished last season
with an impressive record of
20-9, won die Three Rivers
League Championship and
won two State home playoff
games before being eliminated
by Westview in an extra
inning thriller during the State
semi-finals.
The team has many
goals for the 2008 season as
well, including establishing
winning attitudes, academic
success in the classroom, a
chance to compete for the State
Championship, and repeating
as TRL Champions.
"Our expectation this
year is that we will settle for
nothing less, and we will be
working very hard for the
opportunity to play in Salem
for die state championships,"
fc^ ik e Lord, coach, said.
Returning players include
Kyle Kraus, senior, and three
time All-State player, who
has signed a letter of intent
to play baseball at University
of Portland; Justin Monahan,
senior, and returning First
Team All League player, and
Ryan Barnes, junior, and
returning All State baseball
player. Barnes has a verbal
agreement to play baseball at
Oregon State University.
If last year is any indication,
their rivals to beat this spring
are Lake Oswego, Clackamas
and Oregon City.
Jamie LeVeque, softball
coach, looks forward to new
faces, but is worried about
the lack of the number of girls
signed up.
"We could be as good
offensively as last year, but
probably not defensively,"
LeVeque said. Goals for the
season are to be competitive
and make the playoffs.
LeVeque also hopes to beat
Rex Putnam two out of three,
a feat that will not be easy to
repeat.
Returning players
include McKenna Pyeatt,
Ashley Bruser and Sachie
Hopkinson, juniors, and
Rhianna Russell and Carley
Dolder, sophomores. Advice
for incoming players would
be to play softball during the
summer to prepare for the
competition at high school
level.
O oac TENNIS
Boys'
same time winning one game
at a time with hopes of making
the playoffs.
Last year the team made
it to the semi-finals in State,
where they lost to eventual
State champions, St. Mary’s.
Players returning on a team
dominated by seniors include
Solveig Lee, Sara Johnson,
Shannon Edwards, Erika
Busch, Samantha Dewart
and Malia Chong along with
Kristen Brown, Karina Dewart,
Jenna Hoogestraat and Jenna
Steele, juniors, and Brittney
Spurgeon, sophomore.
Hopes for the season
include winning the TRL
Championship and a state
doubles title. "We should be
more experienced. We had a
lot of sophomores last year
who now are juniors," Ward
Lewis, coach, said. However,
Lewis is worried about the
rain and a shortened season.
Lewis hopes this year to go
an undefeated 14-0. Returning
players include Collin Bundy,
Nicholas Russel and Toby
Reutter-Harrah, seniors, '
Christopher Erbin, Brett
Wright, Ryan Nesbit, Sam
Tingey, Miles Rifkin and Brett
Wright, juniors.
Tryouts are after President's
Day, and the first match is
March 10 against Beaverton.
Advice for incoming players is
to start playing out in the cold.
"There is very little time to
form the team, so have your
game in order and your play
at a high level when you come
out," Lewis said.
Boys’ and Girls' Golf teams
hope to kick off the year with
a strong start. Lake Oswego,
Lakeridge and Clackamas are
returning a number of great
*
TRACK & FIELD
Joe Cemy, head track coach,
hopes that this year’s team
will be more exciting than
ever. With a young team and a
strong distance and throwing
crew, both the boys and the
girls have a good chance of
returning as one of the top
teams in the district.
For the boys, top returners
include distance runners Ben
Morrow, Michael Bemert
and Taylor Kolasinski,
seniors, sprinter and jumper,
Nico Matthews, junior, and
throwers Josh Oltman and
Alexander Schlitt, juniors.
For the girls, top returners
include distance runners
Natalie Pittenger, senior, and
Taylor Nowlin, junior, sprinter
Taylor Brooke, junior, and
throwers Samantha Dewart
and Ali Super, seniors.
With practices starting Feb.
19, the team hopes to see a
strong turnout for the season.
Helmkampz tí i s
Sports related injuries lead to life of recovery,
J on H elmkamp
Staff Reporter
Girls'
Aaron Downs, Girls'
Tennis Coach, looks forward
to the team coming back
strong. This year, they want
to qualify as many players
for State as possible.
"W e'll do well. We lost
some key players but I know
others w ill step up," Downs
said.
Returning players include
Alexandra Smith, senior,
Danika Toririirig and Kellie
Kawasaki, juniors. Rivals to
beat are Lake Oswego and
Lakeridge. Practices start at
the end of February, and look
for posts about informational
m eetings, which are yet to be
scheduled.
is»--
players so competition is
going to be fierce for the boys
according to Shawn Hoffman,
assistant coach.
"Realistically the boys have
a chance for second and third
place in league. The girls' team
should be very strong as we
have both returning players
and incoming freshman with
experience," Hoffman said.
Rivals to beat this season
are Lake Oswego, Lakeridge
and Clackamas. Tryouts begin
Feb, 18 and will last about two
weeks. Additional information
can be found on the high
school website.
-J
Boys'
Three returning captains
plus returning starters may
well put the Boys’ Lacrosse
Team in contention for the
Three Rivers League title. They
hope to make it to the final
four in the State tournament.
Last year, the team finished
third in the Three Rivers
League. They advanced to the
State playoffs with a win over
Wilson, but lost at Churchill in
the second round.
"We don't have many
seniors, but I think this group
isvery hungry to make
sacrifices for each other to get
West Linn back in the final
four," Mark Flood, coach, said.
Returning starters include
Connor Deeks, Shannon
Sirvaitis, Spencer Smith and
Nick Peppier, seniors, and
Ryan Squires, Jeff Janoff, Paul
Garcia and Drew Forseth,
juniors. Primary rivals this
year include Lakeridge and
Lake Oswego.
I can't help but wonder
why more and more teenagers
have been sustaining injuries
that require serious surgery,
such as a tom meniscus, tom
anterior cruciate ligament or
a tom achilles tendon. There
have been several cases of
these injuries this year, and
it worries m e that kids are
putting this much stress
on their body at such an
early age.
If w e're putting this
trem endous amount of
pressure on our bodies
now, then what's going to
happen later, when we're
middle aged? We're al
ready starting to seriously
damage our bodies and set
ourselves up for a,life of
bad knees, bad backs and bad
shoulders. Based on common
trends, our generation is going
to be in worse health than our
parents were when we enter
retirem ent. This is the first
time in generations that this
has happened.
Most of these injuries come
from playing sports. Why
are all these injuries happen
ing when safety rales and
equipm ent are supposedly
advancing? School sports have
increased and upgraded their
safety equipment, and rules
continue to be put into action
to help prevent injuries. Yet
despite all of these improve
m ents, serious injuries still
take place.
I'm not saying that teen
agers shouldn't play sports.
Sports are a great part of
growing up. You leam lessons
about how to be a part of a
team, about dedication, about
hard work and about learn
ing to give your best effort;
all valid and good reasons to
play sports. Sports give you
an outlet. They are also a great
source of exercise and are great
for your overall wellbeing.
Nonetheless, something has to
be done to change the number
of serious injuries that have
been taking place.
Much of this has to do with
the competitive environment
of team sports. Them is so
much pressure to outrun,
outplay and outlast your op
ponents that sometimes ath
letes don’t think about the risk
of what they’re doing. They're
willing to put themselves out
there, to go all out to try and
make that amazing catch or
to score that game-win
ning goal. Som etim es,
being too com petitive
puts them into a position
where they are putting
their bodies at risk.
Competitive spirit is a
crucial element of sports.
Risking it all for your
teammates and the pas
sion of the game is what
adds that drama, that
excitement and passion that
makes sports worth playing.
No one can expect athletes
to diminish that drive and
passion for excellence, but
something has to be done to
decrease the risk of serious in
jury when they laythemselves
out there. Student athletes
need to be protected but they
also need to be smart about
how to avoid injuries.
A -A D V A N C E D D E N T A L
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O NE-HOUR TEETH W H ITE N IN G
Girls'
Allister Bunch, head coach,
is looking forward to a season
with a positive atmosphere
where every player will be
able to improve personally
and have fun, while at the
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