12 schools october4 2018 VHS Fall Sports Report Cross Country – Head coach John Roady’s boys and girls teams have slowed down a bit after a fast start to the season. Vernonia’s runners have been battling illness and injuries for the past several weeks, but they continue to com- pete and place well, despite being short- handed at the last several meets. Freshman Sadie Gump contin- ues to impress as the girls top runner. Gump missed several days of practice but came back to post her second fastest time ever, 22:11 at the Meriwether Na- tional Classic in Hillsboro on September 21. On September 28 Gump finished 5 th in a field of 50 runners with a time of 22:50 at the Southwest Christian In- vitational, which is generally a slower course for runners. With the Lady Log- gers second best runner, Jenna Hande- gard out sick, the next two finishers for the Vernonia girls were Grace Costley and Ines De Saintignon, who finished 29 th and 30 th . Roady says Gump and Handegard both still have a chance to qualify for the State Meet. For the boys, senior Jake Hande- gard remains the boys top runner posting a solid time of 18:05 at the Meriwether Classic. Jacob Pasko was the second finisher for the Loggers with a time of 19:37, and Nick Costley finished with a good time of 21:30 At Southwest Chris- tian Handegard struggled a bit and fin- ished 18 th in 19:12, while Pasko took 26 th with a time of 20:01. Abraham Kpirikai, Sean Coffey, and Costley - who is bat- tling a hip injury - were the next finish- ers for the boys. “Jake Pasko ran really well at these meets and has continued to improve,” said Roady. Roady also noted the continued improvement of Kpirikai, who finished with a strong kick at Southwest Christian. Handegard still has a chance to qualify for State. Invitational woodsy loop course on Oc- tober 4, and will then take his teams to the Harvest Classic to run a road course in Longview. The NWL Championships will be held October 11 in Troutdale, with the District Championships, and State qualifying, on tober 2 the Lady Loggers defeated a good Nestucca squad, 3-0. Lady Logger head coach Te- resa Williams was pleased that her team maintained their cohesiveness during their disappointing loss to Port- land Christian. “Portland Chris- tian is a very good team and we L-R: Cross Country runner Sadie Gump; outside hitter Nita Cook, setter Joyce Everett, and outside hitter Jordan Walters For the middle school runners, Delaney Draeger took 12 th place at the shorter Southwest Christian 3,000 meter run in 13:58. Roady says he expects some good times from his runner at the Regis October 25 at Tualatin High School. Volleyball – The Lady Loggers cur- rently sit in 3 rd place in the Northwest League with a 7-1 league record and a 15-4 record overall. The Lady Loggers fell to first place Portland Christian 3-1 on Sep- tember 29, winning the first game of the match 25- 18 before losing the next three games 18-25, 14-25, and 14-25. On Oc- just made too many unforced errors,” said Williams. “We need to work on our blocking and also improve the way we’re reading the game and making sure we’re in the right position. Even though we didn’t play our best the girls stuck to- gether and kept pushing forward, which is great.” The Lady Loggers have upcoming away matches against Columbia Chrisitan continued on page 13 Burgers & Fries Home of the Bear Creek Pub 9 Beers on Tap Growlers To Go Prime Rib Dinner every Friday & Saturday Get it while it’s still Dry! Check us Out on Facebook $300/ Cord • You Pick up (503) 429-14n0 mplogging@frontier.com 503.429.0214 831 Bridge St. Office Space Available Prime Downtown Location 953 Bridge St. Vernonia Call or email for more information (503) 429-1470 mplogging@frontier.com