November
Varsity Football earns top academic honors
S ean P ebler ________________
The Varsity Football Team
has done more than just win
important games this year.
They have also placed first
academically in Oregon for
the third year in a row.
"We take a lot of pride in
it," Ron Chappell, head coach,
said. "The three things we
stress most in our program
are to do well on the football
field, be good citizens and be
excellent academically."
Even though some people
believe that football is a game
Photo by Tracie Krellwitz,
Stop Action Memories
Kalan Hoedl, sophomore, fights
p a s t b lo c k e rs in a h a rd -fo u g h t
lea g u e g a m e against Clackamas.
The Lions won 31-6 racking up
their fifth win on the way to a
second place Three Rivers League
finish.
of the mind, others don't see
the correlation between the
classroom and the playing
field.
"It's academics, not
football, so I don't feel
it really relates to the
performance of the team,"
Seth Wegener, senior, said.
To go along with this
academic feat, the team
is also completing a very
successful season. They have
an 8-2 record coming off of a
convincing first round playoff
win over Gresham. Their only
losses have come at the hands
of Southridge, defending
State Champions, and Lake
Oswego the only league foes
to defeat the Lions.
"We've pretty much
met or exceeded all of our
goals so far. I believe we’ve
maximized our abilities. We
put a lot of time in the weight
room and it's paying off for
us," Chappell said. The last
regular season win for the
Lions over Putnam was also
a milestone for Chappell. It
resulted in the 100th win of
his West Linn coaching career.
In the first round of the
playoffs, the Lions defeated
the Gresham Gophers, 31-28.
They face a second round
contest against a tough
Westview opponent, and
play them on the Wildcats'
home field tonight; time to be
announced.
Last year, the Lions
advanced to the second
round of the playoffs after
beating Barlow 42-28. In the
second round, they were
ahead of Beaverton late in the
game until the Beavers put
together a late drive and won,
12 - 10 .
The year before, the Lions
also advanced to the second
round of the playoffs when
they were defeated by West
Salem, 41-26.
"I'm feeling we'll make it
to at least the quarterfinals
which means winning our
first two playoff games,"
Wegener said.
Varsity Volleyball takes tenth Three Rivers title
A shley S heron ______________
The Girls' Varsity
Volleyball Team continues to
dominate the Three Rivers
League taking its tenth
title since 1999. Along with
continuous TRL wins, the
team in 1999, 2003 and 2007
won State titles.
The team made a
good start to the season,
going undefeated until
they matched up against
Lakeridge. The team still
stood first in the TRL
standings despite the
heartbreaking shutout.
Before losing to Lakeridge,
the team had racked up 139
consecutive wins. The last
games, the team practices for
45 minutes.
"I have them work on
their on passing, serving and
defense," Carl Neuburger,
head coach, said.
Last year's team had
eight seniors. This year,
being the only senior,
Valentine's experience and
game intensity has proven
extremely important to
team success. According to
Neuburger, Valentine has
demonstrated it by the way
in which she performs at
matches.
"Although we're a young
team, no one should take us
for granted," Valentine said.
tim e they had lost a league
m atch w as on Sept. 30, 1999
From the younger players,
N euburger w ants to see
against Oregon City. Despite
the loss then, they tied for
the league title and won their
first State title.
"We want to be
competitive in every game
and take every team as
a challenge, since we're
a growing team," Isabel
Valentine, senior captain,
said.
Practices have been
long and intense. The team
practices up to three and
a half hours. They also
play in tournaments on the
weekends. Even before away
consistency and maturity.
Fie said they need to learn
how to handle pressure and
discipline.
The team matched up
against Sunset on Nov. 7 in
the second round of playoffs.
The Lions fell 25-14, 25-20,
25-20.
Both Neuburger and
Valentine agree that the team
has tradition and a good
chemistry as well as energy
that kept them going strong
this season.
After the season,
Valentine, Courtney
Wanamaker and Reagan
Beatty, juniors, were named
to the All Three Rivers
League Team. Neuburger
was also named Coach of the
Year in the TRL.
Photo by Tracie Krellwitz, Stop Action Memories
Isabel Valentine, senior, and Courtney Wanamaker, junior, go up for
a block in a playoff game against Sunset on Nov. 7. The girls lost the
game in three sets, capping a successful season in which Valentine,
Wannamaker and Reagan Beatty, junior, were named to the Three
Rivers All League Team.
College football teams hope to finish season with quality bowl appearances
S ean P ebler _______________
After going 6-1 in their
last seven Pac-10 games, the
Oregon Ducks' expectations
have greatly increased. They
experienced a monumental
win over the USC Trojans
at Autzen Stadium, 47-20,
where College Gameday,
the national ESPN pre-game
football show, chose Eugene
as its location, marking the
biggest game of the week in
college football.
However, a week later,
Oregon suffered a letdown
loss against Stanford 51-42.
The Ducks still control
their own destiny, which
means that if they can win
the rest of their games, they
will at least win the Pac-10
Conference and go to the
Rose Bowl.
So far in league games, the
Ducks have outscored their
opponents 366-130. Currently,
they are 6-1 in league play
and 2-1 in non-league play.
The Oregon State Beavers,
on the other hand, have lost
two league games so far this
season, and still have road
games at Washington State
and Oregon ahead of them.
However, if they can take
out the Cougars on the road,
they have the possibility of
fighting for a Rose Bowl bid
with Oregon in the Civil War.
One of their league losses
came at the hands of Arizona,
37-32. Coming off of a
disappointing loss to USC,
the Beavers rebounded by
defeating three tough league
opponents in a row: UCLA,
California and Washington.
With the college football
season coming to a close,
many other teams are
looking to make a Bowl
Championship Series (BCS)
looking to spoil the hopes of
higher-calibur teams.
The possible bowl
”
| matchups can
also depend
on the
conference.
For example,
the Rose Bowl
is limited to
the winner
of the Pac-10
Conference
----------------------------------------------------------------against the
Photo by Eric Evans, Oregon Media Services w in ne r Gf
Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, junior,
Big-10
dodges University of Southern California tacklers at Conference
Autzen Stadium in Eugene against the Trojans. The
,
,
Ducks upset the fifth ranked Trojans, 47-20 vaulting 1111 eSS ^
them to an eighth place national ranking.
winner of
appearance and earn some
respect for their university.
Other teams, who have
already lost hopes of
competing in a bowl, are
one of these
conferences goes to the BCS
National Championship.
Then, the runner-up in
the conference would be
awarded a spot in the Rose
Bowl.
If the season were to
end right now, the Rose
Bowl would be between
the Oregon Ducks and the
Ohio State Buckeyes. The
BCS National Championship
game would most likely
feature the Florida Gators
and the Texas Longhorns.
Oregon State would probably
end up somewhere in the
range of the Emerald Bowl or
the Poinsettia Bowl.
With six undefeated teams
left after ten weeks of play,
many of the different bowls
are still undecided. If these
teams really want to end their
season with a bang, their
best chance is to control their
own destiny and win the rest
of their games because, in
college football, every game
matters.