Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2011)
Sports 2011 Boys' Lacrosse Team grinds out tough games early S ean P ebler ____________ __ To begin the 2011 season, the Boys' Lacrosse Team travelled to Arizona for their Spring Break retreat, playing teams from Colorado and Arizona. The team went 0-3 against competition, but felt the trip provided more than the results in the wins and losses columns revealed. "The trip to Arizona was a positive bonding experience," Zachary Strickland, junior defender, said. "We all got a lot better and bonded as a team." After returning from the retreat, the team lost its first two games by a single goal to tough playoff contenders, Lincoln and Sunset. "We knew wins would be tough to come by with our tough schedule," Mark Flood, head coach, said. "We think we are one or two plays away from beating the best teams in the state. It would be nice Photo by Alex Houston Andrew Weinhart, junior, sprints down field while cradling in a league game against Lake Oswego. The Lions fell to the Lakers, 5-1, putting an end to the team's three game league win streak. on early success T y C: WKt| and a close win against Oswego have helped Tennis Team to clinch a the Three Rivers League title. The Lions are a veteran team, with nine seniors, looking for a TRL title after tying for one last year with Lake Oswego and Lakeridge. By beginning the season with nine straight league wins, it is looking like they could achieve their goal. "I expect our team to finish in the top three in our league, but we have a very good chance to win it all," Arthur To, senior, said. With many cancellations, the weeks are packed with rescheduled games as the end of the season nears. In one five day stretch from April 18-23, the team was scheduled to play five matches. Although one was cancelled, the team played four in as many days. On April 19 and 20, the team played Canby. In back-to back Lions shut out the Cougars. The score was 8-0 in both matches. The team followed this with a double-header against Oregon City. In the first match, the team shut out the Pioneers, and in the second, the team won 6-2. On Friday came the marquee matchagainst Lakeridge. Helped Photo by Alex Houston Ken Tsuruta, senior, tracks down a ball in a recent match against Canby. The Lions have enjoyed a successful start to the season, going 5-0 in the Three Rivers League. es from Mitch Tingey, freshman, and Craig Wright, sophomore, the Lions defeated the Lakers. With this win, the team earned a share of the TRL title. Earlier in the season, the Lions toppled the Pacers, 7-1. On April 11 cam e West Linn's match-up with Lake Oswego. This showdown was sure to have some impact on who would win the title this year. The match was as close as it could be, tied 4-4. It ulti mately came down to which team won more sets, with West Linn coming out the victor in enemy territory. Thanks in part to those two matches, the team is 9-0 in league. Two of these victories came over Clackamas, 8-0, and another over newcomer Grant, 5-3. The team has also been victorious outside of its league. The team also competed in a tournament at Jesuit High School on April 16 and 17. They finished third out of eight teams. to have more wins but we are still getting better." The Lions competed against Curtis and Bainbridge, two teams that were on their Spring Break from Washington the week of April 4. The team split the games, defeating Curtis, 11-4, and falling to Bainbridge, 9-3. "The season so far has been tough. We have played some really good teams from out of state," Strickland said. "But we have shown a lot of promise." Flood feels the team isn't yet playing at its full potential, but believes that there is a bright future ahead. "This is a very young team. Excellent senior leadership, but we still are playing a lot of youngins," Flood said. The Lions reeled off three straight wins to begin league play. After defeating Canby in a close brawl, 10-8, the team Track and Field Team breaks away from fierce competition J ack L ammers _______________ "Sisters (Rotary Invitational) was a blast. The first half hour there was a white out snowstorm. We were running, jumping, and throwing in the snow," Joe Cemy, head coach, Girls’ Golf Team draws on experience, young talent J ennifer S itton _______________ Imagine the excitement and adrenaline that comes from winning a State Championship. Then, imagine two players are returning from that championship team who are arguably two of the best golfers in the state. Add into the mix a freshman standout and an undefeated tournament record. Feeling the pressure yet? The Girls' Golf Team has all of these elements working for it. It won its first two matches, shooting 310 as a team in the first and keeping each individual's score in the 70s. Sharon Shin, senior, led the team with a low score of 73. Morgan Thompson, senior, Sarah Archuleta and Kristin Elich, freshmen, all followed with individual scores of 79. "We set the bar high (in the first two matches)," Thompson said. "We definitely want to repeat. Winning State two years in a row would be great." The team posted a score of 335, at its next tournament, 40 strokes better than second place Canby. Shin finished with a top score of 78 for the Lions. The following week the team beat Canby by 35 strokes, shooting 321 as a team. Shin posted the best score of the tournament with a 74, while Thompson finished with a 77. The team's success in tournaments isn't just a fluke. According to Thompson, this is a much different team than last year's team, partially due to the addition of Archuleta and Elich. Photo by Alex Houston S arah A rch u le ta , fresh m an , practices putting at the Oregon Golf Club in preparation for an upcoming match. The team has found success in its first few tournaments, winning them all by a margin of at least 20 strokes. "We have a lot of new talent this year," Thompson said. "Things are also a lot more serious this year. We're trying to focus hard at every practice and be the most prepared team." "We don't rest," Bob Tumquist, head coach, said. "We can't just hope to be good, we have to practice and actually work at it." According to Turnquist, the team doesn't talk or think much about the State Championship. His goal is simply to make sure that the team improves and is better prepared. "We have to get there first," Tumquist said of State. "The day after Districts I'll start thinking about it. I try not to think about May 16 at all." Regardless of the expectations, the girls each have their own motivation to finish as high as possible at State. "This season I'm excited to go out with a bang," Thompson said. "It's Sharon's and my last year and we're going to make it a year everyone will remember." progressed to beat Clackamas, 14-1, and Oregon City, 15-1. Following the win streak, the team fell in a defensive struggle to Lake Oswego, 5-2. With the rest of its league schedule approaching fast, the team hopes to put all of the elements together to make a strong run towards the playoffs. "Face-offs and goalie play have been awesome," Flood said. "We are not consistent yet in playing well on offense and defense in the same game. Once we put both together we could be a tough team to beat." Strickland believes that the team's challenging schedule early on will harden them for battle against worthy league opponents. "I feel good about our team," Strickland said. "Our tough schedule has gotten us ready as we head into league." Photo by Laurel Massaro Z ach ary B oyd -H elm , sen ior, leads the pack in the 1500 meters along with Jefferson Chandler, senior. Boyd-Helm and Chandler finished first and second in the race, respectively, adding to a string of accomplishments for the track team this season. said. This year, outside of the Three Rivers League, the track and field team traveled to Sisters to compete against teams including Summit, Redmond and Crook County. The girls' team took 2nd place while the boys' team took 5th. Among many accomplishments on the girls' team, Cemy noted the efforts of Casey Livesay, senior, for her performance in the hurdles races, finishing second in the 100 meter hurdles. Bene Wilsted, sophomore, the first wheelchair athlete for the track team, finished with a time of 1:57.80 for the 400 meter race and Maria Green, junior, tied for first in high jump with a height of 5-0. On the boys' team, Cerny recognized Justin McKee, senior, for his performance in throwing javelin, throwing a distance of 140 feet, 10 inches. He also acknowledged the impressive feats of the distance team with Cullen Wannarka, senior, finishing first in the 1500 meter race with a time of 4:11.90, Zach Boyd-Helm, senior, finishing second in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:02.90, and Graham Frank, senior, finishing first in the 3000 meter race with a time of 9:53.00, "This season the team is full of new athletes that continue to improve and upperclassmen that contribute to the team's improvement meet after meet in the face of a challenging league," McKee said. The league change this season added Grant and Canby which are both good teams while removing Milwaukie and Putnam who were less challenging opponents, according to Cemy. "It's a new year. Here we go," Joe Cemy, head track and field coach, said. While Cemy is not sure where the team will end up, the team members have shown their willingness to improve while staying competitive. "You always miss the graduating students, but there are always people to fill their place," Cerny said. "I look to the future." Early in the season, the coaches and athletes recognized that there is a lot of good competition ahead, including the Jesuit Twilight Relays. "With quality competition ahead, we will strive to do our best and try to qualify as many people as we can for state," Cerny said. On April 6, both the boys' and girls' teams lost to Lakeridge, and in the Centennial Invitational held on April 23, the girls' team finished 9th.
