Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1995)
10 Sports The Clackamas Print Wednesday, December 6,1995 Burck gives much more than he takes Jesse Sowa Sports Editor There aren’t enough people in sports today that care more about their team than themselves. Ryan Burck, a cross country and track athlete at Clackamas, is one in this rare breed. Burck, a sophomore at CCC, shows leadership “by example” according to Clackamas Track & Field and Cross Country Coach Mike Hodges. “Ryan brings (to the programs) commitment, com petitiveness, a real quiet leader ship.” Burck led the Cougars to their fifth consecutive Northwest title on Nov. 11 at Lane Commu nity College in Eugene with a sec ond-place individual finish in a time of 27 minutes, 38 seconds. He also finished second at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College (NWAACC) Championship Cross Country Meet last year as a freshman. Clackamas won the Northwest co ed title for the seventh straight year. This year’s cross country title marked the third year in a row that Clackamas had finished second at the regional meet and come back to win the Northwest title; “I think it says that we all know when it matters the most, to come together and pull it all out,” Burck said. “I think it has a lot to do with the training pro gram that Coach (Hodges) has us on.” Hodges trains his athletes so that they should run their best times at the end of the season. “He always works hard and he’s always prepared mentally and physically,” Hodges said of the standout athlete. “When it comes time for the important races, he’s always at the front of the pack.” Ryan Burck receives one of the many awards he earned while competing on the Clackamas Cross Country team. Jon Roberts Feature Editor photo by Josh Kehler Clackamas student-athlete F lyan Burck puts the cross country team’s goals ahead of his own endeavors. After a successful high school cross country season as a senior at West Linn, when he fin ished third in the state, Burck came to Clackamas in the fall of 1994 with a nagging leg injury, also known as “shin splints.” He overcame this injury to come back and lead the Cougars to a second straight NWAACC title. Burck ran as the team’s fourth runner throughout the season, but peaked at the regional and Northwest meets. Despite taking third in state, Burck was frustrated about his team’s score. “What I was disap pointed about more than anything was that that was the year that my high school team could have trophied, but we didn’t trophy,” he said. West Linn finished sixth. “That was total disappointment for myself because I really ran hard.” Burck’s injury slowed him during his first track season at Clackamas, but he fought through adversity to place sixth in the Northwest at 10,000 meters. He also qualified for. the NWAACC 5,000-meter race but did not place. “A lesser person would have made excuses, given up,” Hodges said. Following the track season last spring, Burck took two weeks off to rest his body. He then trained hard throughout the sum mer and came back to Clackamas this fall still feeling as though he wasn’t at 100 percent. Hodges then suggested that Burck use orthotics and therapy to help with the recurring injury. Despite the cost of the foot supple ments, Burck took Hodges’s sug gestion. Now that he has got past his injury, Burck now feels that it was worth the time and the money for the orthotics and therapy. “Something that I’ve learned through my running career is to listen to my body,” Burck said. “You have to make sacrifices to have more success.” “The real essence is that what he does is for the team,” Hodges continued on page 12 Women’s Basketball team goes to 4-0 Brendon Neal Section Editor Clackamas Women’s Basket ball team is now 4-0 after road victories over Columbia Basin Community College and Blue Mountain CC last week. "Columbia Basin, to me, was the best team we have faced so far,” Clackamas Head Coach Karen Twain said. “We played the best I have ever seen us play.” Twain says that everybody that played against Columbia played really well. Denise Haselwood played quite strong in a two-guard rotation with Lindsey Vrtiska. Twain noted that Haselwood also cut down on her turnovers. Clackamas handled the ball well with just 13 turnovers, while stealing the ball from Columbia Basin 15 times and causing 24 turnovers. Robin Barchus had 23 points on 10 for 19 shooting. Clair Cox played well with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Haselwood got five assists and 12 points. "In the first game, it is as close to a perfect game as I have ever seen," Twain said about her team's play. Clackamas defeated Blue Mountain, 80-73, on Saturday afternoon. Twain felt that the in tensity level dropped in the first half compared to the previous night because they were playing back to back games, but the Cou gars picked it up before halftime and played stronger. Clackamas shot only 38 per cent from the field in the game, but scored a lot of points with 15 offensive rebounds. Barchus led the team in scor ing with 26 points and seven re bounds. Clair Cox got 11 re bounds and 18 points in 27-plus minutes of play. Angie Womack and Chelsea Becher came in and played well when the team got into foul trouble, Melanie Sharp didn't play either game because of the volley ball all-star tournamnent, which put Barchus in the starting lineup. Twain said that Barchus played really well on both ends of the floor. "We aren't worried so much about who is starting as much as who is playing well," commented Twain. Clackamas will play at Clark on Wednesday, at home against Willamette University’s Junior Varsity team on Friday, and Co lumbia Basin on Saturday. Where are all the fans? Where has all the school spirit gone that is evident in our local high schools? Why is it that when the Clackamas Community College volleyball team makes it to the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the only people that come to support them are a few parents and two students? I realize that all of us are at a community college and that most of us don’t plan on being here very long. I also realize that lots of us have jobs and think that we have better things to do. The athletes who repre sent our school work their tails off to be the best they can be. Why can’t Clackamas CC students get as interested in athletics as students do at four- year colleges? Is it because no one out there cares or is it be cause people don’t know how enjoyable it is to watch college athletics? Clackamas has been blessed with some quality ath letic teams. The volleyball team played well and was at the top of their league and very ex citing; the cross country team was the number one overall program in the Northwest with the men taking first and the women fourth. The college basketball teams have been very competi tive with the men leading the way, having won the NWAACC title in 1994 and taking third in 1993 and 1995. The number of people who go to women’s sporting events is even lower because for some reason, many people think that women’s athletics are boring. Women’s sports are more enjoyable to watch and are much different than watching men’s sports. Men at times don’t have fun when they play, while women do. Try going and watching a few games, if you still are not impressed, then you never have to go again. But I bet you will be addicted and have to see more. With this, you could be come a true fan and actually might show some school spirit. ED SPEARS Barber Shop 706 Holmes Ln. Oregon City, Or. 97045 Bus: (503)656-8025 Res: (503)657-5395 photo by LoraWahrgren The women’s basketball team practices for their upcoming game with Clark Community College in Vancouver; The Cougars are now 4-0 this season. y Next to the New China Restaurant
