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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2018)
14 schools june21 2018 Vernonia Wrestlers Already Preparing for Upcoming Season Coach Chris Barnes is excited to defend VHS’s District Title and grow the girls wrestling program The two-time District Champi- on Vernonia wrestlers will be busy this summer with workouts and fundraisers as they prepare to defend the District Ti- tle they won in dominating fashion last year. Head Coach Chris Barnes has a strong returning contingent of wres- tlers, including two returning state plac- ers from last year in Wyatt Jones who finished 4 th and Joshua Rice who fin- ished 3 rd . Also returning this season are state qualifiers Hepner Forster and Josh Sholes, along with Patrick Fletcher, Aus- tin Sicard, Byron Cook, Cutter Barklow, Eli Thompson, Isaiah Thompson, Jacob Pasko, and Zach Larke. Last year the Loggers won the District going away, scoring 305 points to 2 nd place Monroe’s 148, while sending six wrestlers to the State Tournament. Coach Barnes was named District Coach of the Year. While Barnes is looking forward to defending the District Title, he is also passionate about the progress girls wres- tling is making at the state and national levels. Oregon had two national champi- ons in 2018 at the collegiate level. According to Barnes, there are presently six states that have added an official state girls championship, recog- nized and run by their state scholastic governing body: Hawaii 1998, Texas 1999, Washington 2007, California 2011, Alaska 2014, and Tennessee 2015. Oregon has been in the process since 2009, working with the OSAA for several years to promote and sanction a girls state high school tournament. In 2018-2019 Oregon will add a girls divi- sion to the OSAA High School Wres- tling Championships and become one of the first eight states to sanction girls wrestling. And, due to the emerging status of women’s wrestling, there are many scholarship opportunities as col- leges and universities continue adding women’s wrestling programs. In 2018-19 there will be an OSAA sanctioned girls season schedule. Girls will have different weight classes than boys. At the State Tournament there will be eight-person girls brackets. Barnes says girls wrestling is catching on fast in Oregon and contin- ues to grow. “The first year Oregon held a girls exhibition at the State Tourna- ment they had 70 girls participate – the next year there were 150,” says Barnes. “They have been running numerous middle school and high school tourna- ments for girls throughout the season in recent years and they’ve continued to hold the girls exhibition at the State Championships. This year it will be a full tournament just for the girls.” Barnes has had several girls compete with his team over the last sev- eral years, including graduated senior Kailia Jackson, who won the boys Dis- trict Title two years ago and placed 4 th at girls state in 2018. “We have many girls in our youth program and I’d love to see 15-20 girls show up for the 2018- 2019 high school season,” says Barnes. “Warrenton currently has one of the big- gest girls teams in the state and it would be fantastic to get a north coast rivalry established with them!” Barnes says the summer schedule for practices is Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00 pm. Prac- tice is open to middle and high school athletes. “It’s a fast paced practice and we’re having fun,” says Barnes. The wrestling team will also host several fundraisers this summer, in- cluding the annual ‘The 24.’ “This one is open to anyone who wants to participate, says Barnes. “We ask for a $50 donation and we go from 8:00 am Friday to 8:00 am Saturday, performing a workout ev- ery hour on the hour for 10 to 20 min- utes in length. No sleep allowed. For non-team members we ask a $50 dona- tion to participate and you get a T-shirt and food.” Event and date will be posted on Vernonia Wrestling Facebook page. The team will also hold car washes on July 7 and September 1 start- ing at 9:00 am at Holce Logging behind Bridge Street Mini Mart. Summer Meals Program Helps Bridge the Gap ticipating summer sites including many schools, parks, and other non-profit or- ganizations. The program is currently under utilized with many families unaware of the free meals and activities in their communities. Nationally, only one out of six children who receive free or re- duced price meals during the school year continue to receive meals during the summer months. Increasing aware- ness of and access to these programs can have a significant impact on combating childhood food insecurity. Locally the Vernonia School District sponsors the Summer Meals pro- gram, which started on June 18 and runs through August 24 at the Grace Family Fellowship Church, 967 State Avenue. Meals are available for free to children under the age of 18, Monday through Friday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. “We know the important role that child nutrition plays during the school year and it’s just as crucial in the summer months when children don’t have access to school meals,” Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education, said. “We encourage families and caregivers to take advantage of this opportunity to help ensure the children they care for have access to good nutri- tion over the summer.” Families can look up other meal locations in their area by calling 2-1-1, or texting “Food” or “Comida” to 877- 877, or visiting the Summer Food Or- egon website. Meals are available for any child 18 and under without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. “The Summer Foods Lunch Program in Klamath Falls allows us to provide lunches to kids who would oth- erwise go hungry,” Integral Youth Ser- vices Outreach Programs Director Craig Schuhmann said. “Over the course of the summer we serve 24,000 lunches at 30 different sites, rural and city, over a ten week period. This affords us the op- portunity to combine our efforts with lo- cal community partners to provide edu- cation and enrichment activities while the youth are gathered to eat. Many ap- preciative parents have told us that this program helps to stretch an already tight food budget.” Please help spread the word about the free summer meals and activi- ties to families in your area. DM D Vernonia Dental an When school lets out for the summer, thousands of Oregon children lose access to breakfast, lunch and after- school meals that are available during the regular school year. Many children and families rely on these school meals to supplement what is available at home. The Summer Food Service Program helps to fill this gap by providing free, nutritious meals to children and teens over the summer months. Free meals and enrichment activities are offered at par- e rm Summer Food Service Program offers nutritious meals to combat childhood hunger D h . r C r h p o is t M er . h S c eu 622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881
