The Clackamas print., June 01, 2005, Page 15, Image 15

^^LÄCKAMASp^fif
June 1, 2005
•15
he best of the best at Clackamas
I’m Michael McCormack, the sports editor for The Clackamas Print, and I
wanted to give my thoughts on the best Cougars ’team in the past year, as well as
the top Cougar athlete. Let’s call these awards ‘The Mikeys’
“The Mikey Team of the Year"
■lackamas was fortu- in the regular season to their
I enough to have four opponents’ five.
[AACC champions in the
Six Cougars made first
14-2005 athletic seasons, team Southwest Division,
i women’s cross-country, led by Rodríguez who was
leyball and softball teams chosen as the Player of the
look home first in grand Year; Head Coach Tracy
■fashion, - but one team Nelson was also awarded as
|d out from the rest, and the Coach of the Year. Megan
■would be the women’s Diebel, Trisha Little, Tianna
ler team. . ,
Meduri, Jessica Engeman and
lot only did the soccer Triller all joined Rodriguez
I win the NWAACC’s, as all-stars.
I made sure that the
In the playoffs the Cougars
|e conference knew they turned up their game to
J no fluke. The team fin- another level, outscoring
|d their season with a opponents 12-0, including a
Id of 20 wins, no losses 6-0 shellacking of Tacoma
Itwo ties. But that record Community College in the
pe doesn’t do justice for finals. Emily Ingalls was
Isquad.
chosen as the tournament
I the regular season the MVP for the Cougars, scor­
iballers of Clackamas ing three goals and adding
le led by freshman Vicki two assists in three games.
priguez, who was second
Overall, the Lady Cougars
lie NWAACC with 28 . outscored opponents 75-5,
Is scored. Along with and were never behind once
Iriguez, Emily Ingalls and in a contest throughout the
landa Triller both ranked season. Other Cougar teams
lie top ten in assists. The were great, but no team con­
ears flat out dominated trolled and dominated quite
onents scoring 63 goals like the soccer team.
“The Mikey Player of the Year"
My player of the year choice
was a little more difficult to choose,
because there is such a large quan­
tity of great Cougar athletes-to
select from. As I sat back and pon­
dered on who should get the award,
I considered three factors. One,
how well did the athlete excel as a
player? Two, what kind of leader­
ship skills did the athlete show on
the playing field? And three, was
this player the driving force for his
or her team’s successes?
After looking over a list of four
players, I finally came to the con­
clusion that Wes Jensen of the
men’s basketball team was my
pick
Jensen, a sophomore from
Molalla, led his team in scoring
with 19.5 point per game, and was
second in rebounds, pulling down
nine-and-a-half per outing. In the
playoffs, Wes turned his game up
to the next level, leading a depleted
Cougars team to third place in the
NWAACC tourney, averaging 25.5
points in four games and earning a
spot on the All-Tournament team.
Ih his final game as a Cougar,
Jensen played the best game of his
collegiate career, scoring 30 points,
pulling down nine boards, and
dishing out four assists, in addi­
tion to two blocks and three steals;
simply put, Jensen just wanted it
more.
But in my opinion, Jensen’s play
wasn’t the best part of his game.
Jensen’s leadership skills showed
an uncanny resemblance to the
likes of a Michael Jordan. Going
into the post-season Clackamas
was the third place team coming
out of the south division, and only
had eight players suited for the
tournament. Jensen would not be
denied a trophy for his teammates
and him, and through his example
of floor instruction and determina­
tion he led the Cougs to the semi­
finals.
Day in and day out, teammates
of Jensen praised him as a play­
er and as a leader, saying if we
didn’t have Wes, we wouldn’t be
where we are. A prime example of
Wes’ leadership came in a semi­
final loss to Pierce College. The
Cougars were down by 10 or more
throughout the contest, but Wes
didn’t show any quit in his six-foot,
six-inch frame; he kept telling his
teammates to keep their heads up
and that they were still in the game.
The Cougars cut the lead down to
one with one minute remaining
but were unable to pull it out. And
although they had lost the contest,
it was a win in their hearts because
they had fought so hard to come
back Jensen is a true warrior, who
never stops playing for himself or
his comrades. In the third place
game, Jensen told me before it
started that there was no chance
that they were going to lose, and
sure enough, Wes held true to his
word.
Wes was the most integral part
of this team, and without him
Clackamas may have never even
made the playoffs, let alone win
three in the postseason. What set
apart Wes from my other “Mikey”
finalists was his persistence to
want to win and not accept losing
as an outcome. He would yell and
scream at his teammates—not to
scold, but to make them better. He
led by example in every way of the
game and life; his play was never
outmatched, his heart was never
out-beat, and his head was never
outsmarted. Wes Jensen is a true
leader.
All photos by Jeff Sorensen Clackamas Print
PVE LEFT) Ashley Webster (6) helped the women’s soccer team win the NWAACC’s in the fall, and eventually the Mikey award for Team of the" Year. (ABOVE
rT)The Mikey Player of the Year, Wes Jensen (15), is greeted by fellow teammates Garold Howe (23) and Josh Spirlin before a home game this past season.