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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2022)
12 Schools September 15 2022 VHS Fall Sports Preview: Logger Football is Fun Again! continued from front page Hunter Buehrer at wide receiver. Sopho- more running back Benjamin Richey even got in on the action when he scored against Riverside. On defense, the Loggers are lead by Jones, Buehrer, Pultz, Marine, sophomore Gage Ernhardt, and Terry. The Loggers are playing a swarming style, are tackling hard, pressuring the quarterback, and forc- ing turnovers; against Riverside the defense scored twice – on a fumble recovery and an interception pick-six, and Ernhardt added another interception. Quarterback Cameron Terry Both the offensive and defensive lines have been strong for the Loggers. The new nine-aside play puts just three players on the line, and the Loggers have excelled here, with juniors Isaiah Naeve, Austin Grosho- ng, senior Peter Hahn, and freshman Brock Johnson all contributing. The Loggers have even developed a kicking game this season, with Ernhardt converting four of his six extra point at- tempts against Riverside. Bunke is once again assisted by coach- es Chad Dillard along with Noel Franco. The Loggers will face their first league test when they play Nestucca at home on September 16. They travel to Sheridan on September 23, before hosting Knappa on October 7 in the annual Homecoming game. For the first time in a while, Logger fans should go ahead and circle November 4-5 on their calendars – that’s when the State Playoffs are scheduled to start! Cross Country – Head coach John Roady has full teams for both his boys and girls squads this season, along with six boys and six girls on the middle school team. For teams to score points at meets, they need to have five runners, so Roady is excited. “It’s the first time since I have been here that we have been able to have complete teams for both boys and girls for our middle and high school teams. This bodes well for the future of the program.” The high school girls are coming off a District 1 Championship and a 2 nd place finish at State last season, the best show- ing ever for a Logger girls team. While the squad lost three of their top four runners to graduation, they again look like they will be competitive. The team is once again led by junior Delaney Draeger, last year’s top runner who finished 5 th as an individual at the State Meet. “Delaney should be considered a State title contender,” says Roady. Roady also has two other runners who ran at the State Meet in junior Eloise Pedersen and sophomore Trin- ity Weber. Senior Chloe Guiberson looks to improve on her times from a year ago, while sophomore Ella Schram is running XC for the first time and will be a contributor. The team should also be helped with the addi- tion of two exchange students in Marlene Lieblang from Germany, and Elli Linkmann from Estonia. On paper, Roady’s boys squad looks good with 11 runners out for the team. The team should be led by senior Evan Miller who placed 13 th at state last year. Miller will be backed by a couple of other veteran se- niors in Seth Scheuerman and Peter Hahn. Both have been running XC since middle school. Sophomore Cannon McLeod has put in some miles this summer and looks vastly improved. “I would not be surprised to see Cannon end the season as our top run- ner. He has looked that good this fall,” says Roady. Sophomore Stone Williams, a star of the spring track team last year as a fresh- man, should be a solid contributor along with sophomore Kaiden Van Lom, who Ra- ody says is vastly improved from a year ago. “He has put in a lot of work and appears to be much stronger and more consistent.” An- other sophomore trying XC for the first time is Matthew “Matty Ice” Taylor. “Matty ran track last spring and showed he can run the distance and takes pride in his ‘kick’ to the finish,” notes Roady. Freshman Konner Van Lom has been running neck and neck with his brother Kaiden. And like Kaiden, has worked hard this summer. “Watching those two brings back memories for me of run- ning with my brother Ray ‘back in the day’ for Vernonia,” says Roady fondly. Junior Jack Riddell and sophomore Wyatt Wood- all, along with French exchange student Sa- cha Masi, round out the squad. At their first meet of the season on Sep- tember 1 at Cascade High School in Turner, competing against 20 schools, many of them bigger than Vernonia, the Logger girls took 3 rd place and the boys finished 7 th in team scoring. Draeger, as expected, led the Logger girls with a 3 rd place finish, 16 seconds faster than her time last year on the same course. Pedersen looked strong while finish- ing 21 st while Weber ran 23 seconds faster than last year while finishing 31 st . The Logger boys were without the ser- vices of Miller and Williams. Scheuerman was the top finisher for the Loggers, placing 15 th , and was followed by McLeod in 25 th , finishing 1:40 faster than his time last sea- son. Hahn and the Van Lom brothers round- ed out the scoring for the Loggers. The Logger Elk Run at Teevin Ranch in Jewell was canceled on September 10 due to weather concerns. The Loggers have a busy schedule after that with the OES Invitational on September 13, the Oregon City Invita- tional on September 17, Champs Invite on September 23, and the Harvest Classic on October 1. The Loggers will host the Verno- nia Invitational on October 13, right before the Northwest League Championship on October 19. The District Meet is scheduled for October 27 or 28, with the State Cham- pionships at Lane Community College be- ing held on November 5. Volleyball – For the first time in 15 years, the Lady Loggers do not look to be one of the league favorites this year. After a 3 rd place finish in league play last year, followed by an exciting District Tournament Championship win and a berth in the State Playoffs, head coach Teresa Wil- liams has lost a number of key players and this season has a squad with limited varsity experience. Even after a challenging start, Wil- liams is staying positive. “In my 15 years of coaching this team, we’ve never finished lower than 3 rd place in the league, so we’re going to keep working,” she says. Key returning players are senior cap- tain Kortnie Adams, a fixture as a middle blocker for the past two seasons, who has taken over setting duties on this year’s squad. 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