Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2010)
Softball Team shows dominance from first game J ennifer S itton The Softball Team opened its season with a huge win against highly-ranked Central Catholic and its nationally ranked pitcher, Kaitlin Inglesby. The team came out strong with a 3-2 win over the Rams. "They have the best pitcher in the state, but we were able to score three runs against them," Kylie Crawford, junior, said. "We weren't intimidated in the box, and played great defense." The team continued its winning streak, beating David Douglas, 9-4, and Wilson, 12-7. This year's team consists of experienced sophomores and juniors for the most part. With only two seniors, Mary Scofield and Megan Silvers, they will lean heavily on their juniors for leadership. According to Jamie LeVeque, head coach, the team has high expectations to make it even further into playoffs this year than last, when they lost in the first round to Barlow. "We're a lot more competitive this year with our experience and the fact Photo by Alex Houston Mackenzie Domann, junior, tags out an Oregon City player at second base during the team's fourth league game against Oregon City. West Linn won the game 3-2 to move up to first place in the Three Rivers League. that we have a lot of kids who play softball all year round," LeVeque said. "We have a nice mixture of both speed and power." Both LeVeque and Crawford attest that the team's success depends on everyone doing their part. "We work really well Home Games Track Softball •4/30 4:30 p.m. @ RRMS vs Milwaukie • 5/03 4:30 p.m. @ RRMS vs Clackamas Baseball Boys' Lacrosse lili •4/27 5 p.m. WLHS vs Wilson •5/05 5 p.m. # WLHS vs Girls' Lacrosse •4/23 8 p.m. @WLHS vs Lakeridge • 5/04 7:30 p.m. @ WLHS vs Rex Putnam Wm •5/05 4 p.m. @ WLHS vs Lakeridge •4/27 7:45 p.m. @ WLHS vs Oregon City •5/07 7:30 p.m. @WLHS vs Lake Oswego Girls' Golf: •4/23 Oregon •4/27 Oregon 3 p.m. @ Golf Club 3 p.m. @ Golf Club Girls' Tennis: >4/23 4 p.m. @WLHS vs Oregon City together," Crawford said. "We don't have a star player. Everyone contributes in some way." The Lions traveled south to Medford over spring break, participating in a tournament where they came out with a 1-3 record. They beat Wilson, but lost a close game to Glencoe, 0-1, a team that has played for the 5A State championship the past two years. The team lost two more to West Salem and Cleveland before returning home. The Lions opened league play strong, beating Clackamas 5-4 and pummeling Lake Oswego with a 13-4 win. Next, the team won a close one against Rex Putnam, 9-8. Two days later, the Lions gained a victory over Oregon City, one of the top softball teams in the Three Rivers League. West Linn won the low-scoring affair 3-2. LeVeque said of Oregon City before the game, "They are the team to beat. I think we have a good chance (of beating them), but we're going to have to play near perfect to do it." The team went on to win three more league games against Lakeridge, Milwaukie and Lake Oswego, with their first league loss coming against Clackamas, 4-8. This year, the team has had the luxury of playing on a brand new turf field, which means that while everyone else in the Portland-metro area is sitting through rain delays, the Lions can continue with their games. According to LeVeque, many Three Rivers League teams have moved their home fields to parks with turf fields. Spring = track: track = hail? C lara A ltemus _______________ Hail, rain, clouds, sun and cold. Along with the wild weather, the Varsity Track Team scored a big win against Clackamas with strong finishes and sweeps. "The weather went from sunny to raining to hailing and the hail was huge and quite painful," Danica Jungerman, senior, said. "For track we are used to the rain and the cold so we can deal with that pretty well." The team dominated the Cavaliers, according to Keaton Hedman, junior. Hedman placed first, in the 100 meters with a time of 11.1. Jungerman also placed first in the pole vault clearing 8'0 feet. Zachary Boyd-Helm, Cullen Wannaarka, Taylor West and Jefferson Chandler won the 400 meter relay. The first three returned for wins in the 800 meters and then Wannarka, West and Chandler swept the 1500 meters. Other strong finishes on the boys' side included Timothy Donnelly and Graham Frank who finished 1-2 in the 3,00 meters. Hurdlers Zachary Valentine and Dustin Selland, won the 110 and 300 meter events respectively. In the field, Brandon Brookshy, Ross Omdoff and Cameron Keizur dominated in the shot put. After already winning one of the hardest meets weather-wise, the team found tougher competition against Lake Oswego on April 7. The boys' team snagged first through third in pole vault and the 1500 meters. The girls' team swept the 3000 meters. Madison Leek, freshman, Photo by Mark Poppert Cameron Juarez, senior, runs the 4x400 relay in a meet against Clackamas on April 7. West Linn won the meet, along with their first meet on March 31. grabbed first in both the 100 and 400 meters. Along with Leek, Andre Aramattoe, senior, placed first in both pole vault and high jump. On April 14, the girls demolished Rex Putnam, 101-44, and boys also won, 86-59. Some of the outstanding performances according to Cemy included Hedman, who won the 100 meters, and Wannaarka who won the 3000 meters. "They are very competitive," Joe Cerny, head track coach, said of the team. Cemy, who has coached track for 24 years, has been head coach at West Linn for eight. He believes that the team has started out well, and agrees with Hedman that they could place in the top three in league. The next home meet will be on May 5 at 4 p.m. against the Lakeridge Pacers.
