Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2008)
12 May |------------------- t Rugby team endures Regional defeat; tournam ent ends with police presence _ C alley L athrop ____________ i a i i r~ \/ I A-ri ir> r\ r » Staff Reporter t / fc1 ' The Renegades won a coveted "one for the thumb" State championship on April 26 at Delta Park in Portland. The next weekend, the team traveled to the Regional championships in Seattle, Wash., and on Sunday, played the Sacramento Amazons in the final round. The game saw several players injured, and they police were summoned. The Regional tournament, which included the top teams from Washington, Oregon and northern California, resulted in a 12-7 win for the Renegades. The next day, the Renegades came up against the Sacramento Amazons who, on the previous day of the tournament, inflicted a concussion, a broken arm, cracked ribs and a bruised liver upon their opponents. With a trip to the national tournament on the line, the Amazons scored within the first five minutes, and it was increasingly difficult for the Renegades to stay in contention. One Amazon player was yellow-carded for high tackles as the team racked up points. The Amazons won 30-0, but the events that followed brought the police. When the Renegades posed for a photo under the goalposts to commemorate their final match, a Renegade parent reportedly made a remark within earshot of the Amazon parents, commenting on how poorly the opposing team's players handled themselves. A parent from the other team charged at him, starting a fight that was broken up by parents several minutes later. Another coach called the police, but by the time they arrived, the Amazons had left. At that point, it seemed all was lost for the Renegades. A bitter end to a bitter day, they prepared to leave. That was until Ernesto Espinoza, head coach, decided to file charges against the Sir who refereed the match. "That was combat, not rugby. There were high tackles left and right, as well as other dirty play that the ref should not have . i . i t i • i / -.i tolerated. In high profile games, you cannot let that sort of behavior slide," Espinoza said. Several other teams may do the same thing, and if .1 t - v • /•• ^ -t ■ the Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union recognizes these charges, it is possible that the Amazons will be disqualified from the national tournament. This Ariel Heston, senior, attempts to drive through a Sacramento Amazon during the Renegades' regional championship match. According to Ernesto Espinoza, head coach, it was the "most physical match" he had seen in six years of coaching. Photo submitted by Bruce Sommers « « would leave one more open spot to be filled by a West Coast team. Only time will tell, but either way, the Renegades' season may not be over yet. Before this storm, the Renegades took on Canby for the State championship. The Cougars came out on top in the southern division, with a 4-0 record. West Linn and Canby have been fierce rivals ever since 2007 when the Renegades played, and defeated, the Cougars in the State, Regional, and National plate division playoffs. According to Espinoza, the Cougars really stepped up its game this year. "The Canby defense was really good, we hadn't seen them that strong since 2006. We knew what they were planning on, they knew what we were planning, so both teams were very well prepared," he said. The Renegades' youth greatly aided them in playoffs and at tournaments, as it added depth and built a solid structure of players for upcoming years. A packed pre-season also aided in their success, as they played top-notch teams ___ from California, Canada and Washington. "The normal season was actually easier than pre[season]; even rookies had gained experience by then, and we were ready for action," Espinoza said. Before Regionals, the focus, according to the coaches, was to work on fitness and fine-tuning skills. The team put in three practices a week, each lasting two hours. Espinoza believes that the decrease in practices from four a week has kept everyone from getting burned out during the long season. Several key players for State, according to Esipnoza, were juniors Carly Lenhoff from Lake Oswego, Megan Hackney and Katherine Linday. The team lost several key players during the State competitions, including juniors Jennelle Barizola to a broken arm and Zchonae Jones to a sprained ankle. "The Renegades this year were an amazing combination of intelligence and athleticism, and that's what it takes to succeed in rugby," Cathryn Lambeth, coach, said of their winning season. Track team exceeds expectations at Districts M ax H ays Staff Reporter In a season filled with surprise performances according to Joe Cemy, head coach, the track season ended May 16 for all but two Varsity athletes. Ali Super, senior, will be defending her State title in the javelin, and Bryce Baker, junior, enters as the ninth- ranked 300 meter hurdler. At Districts, the boys finished sixth ahead of Lakeridge, and ran very well with a couple athletes missing State qualifications by very small margins. Taylor Kolasinski, senior captain, missed going to state by one second in the 800 finishing a close third place, and Josh Oltman, junior, also took third, missing State qualifying in the javelin by only a couple feet. Other impressive performances came from Jacob Gianuzzi, sophomore, with a sixth in the 100 and fifth in the javelin. In the 3000, Ben Morrow, senior captain came in fifth place. In the throws, Austin Banta, junior, placed seventh in the discus and tenth in the shot put, and teammate Tommy Patrick wasn't far behind, finishing tenth in the discus and llth in shot. Jumpers Andre Armattoe, sophomore, finished sixth in the high jump and Brian Schiewe, freshman ended up ninth just ahead of Ian Markstaller, junior, in the long jump. Cemy also cited the talented group of freshmen that includes Justin McKee, ninth in the 400; Tim Donnelly, ninth in the 800; Cullen Wannarka, eighth in the 1500; and Taylor West, eighth in the 3000 as turning in impressive and unexpected results. Several girls team found out the hard way that track is a sport decided by a matter of seconds and inches. The girls finished fifth place at Districts in the team competition ahead of Milwaukie and Putnam. Natalie Pittenger, senior, Josh Valentine, senior, pole vaults over the bar in the Lions last dual track meet of the year against Rex Putnam. The Lions placed many athletes at Districts but advanced only two to the State competition. Photo by Calley Lathrop finished two seconds behind the second place competitor in the 800 narrowly missing advancing to State. Also in the 800, Diana Crane, senior, finished in eighth place. In the 300 hurdles, Alyssa Jemigan, senior, fell two seconds short of a State qualification. Samantha DeMars, senior, was only two inches off the needed mark in the high jump. The girls also garnered good performances from Casey Livesay, freshman, who finished eighth in the 100 and Sydney Veenker, freshmen, who finished sixth in the 200. In the 1500, Taylor Nowlin, junior, Kathryn Flyte, sophomore and Kristi Pace, senior, ended up finishing seven, eight, ninth. Nowlin also did well in the 3000 finishing just ahead of teammate Chelsea Ollar, freshman, and Kelsey Guerins, sophomore. In the 100 hurdles Amy Kestek, senior, ran well, finishing a respectable seventh. In the triple jump, AnnaLisa Koll, senior, took fourth, missing third place by only two inches.
