Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2011)
(3 The Clackamas Print sportsed@clackamas.edu Wednesday, Nov. 23,2011 Loss of key players poses challenge, men’s basketball faces new season with optimism By Matt Senn The Clackamas Print Clackamas sophomore Andre Dickson looks to score during practice on Nov. 21. Dickson had a game high fo u r steals in last week’s season opener verses Linfield College JV. W ith the NBÁ lock-out in total disarray, it looks like a very good chance that there w ont be any mens professional basketball season at all this year. For those die-hard Blazer íáris, diere isn’t much hope for live basketball games. Yet hope remains as the Clackamas Cougars basket ball season is nearly underway. T ’rii super excited to be a part o f a program [that] does a lot o f winning,” said Taylor Dunn, who transferred to Clackamas Com m unity College from Central Washington. The pre- season started off last Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. vs. Linfield College JV at home in Randall Hall with die Cougars smashing Linfield JV to die final tally o f 88-75: * M D unn lead the Cougars in scoring with 2 2 1 points. He will be playing wing or post-position. D unn has a history of playing basketball and ties to CCC. His older brother Austin D unn played on the 2009 NWAACC championship team, which Taylor aspires to do this year. Just having won a Southern Region championship last year, the whole team would like to defend their tide. W ith the season on their heels; the team has been hitting the gym for some very intense prac tices. During preseason for all sports, there are many things to consider and Clif Wegner, head coach o f the Cougars mens basketball team, is anticipating them. “We re v o y excited to get underway,” said Wegner. While he is excited, he also sees points of concern. O ne o f those areas is the loss or key post player Max Jacobson. Jacobson shot 70 percent from the floor and averaged 23 points and seven rebounds a game last season at Clackamas before signing with Northern Arizona University. Along with the loss o f Jacobson is shooting guard/small forward Nate Keilholtz, who will be red-shirting this year due to a recent ACL recon struction. T h e surgery takes at least a m onth to recover from, enough to walk without crutches, not to mention the six to nine months if will be until Keilholtz is back to performing in athletics. “It’s a big loss losing him,” said Assistant Coach Jonny Brainard. “Nate was a great rebounder and a very smart player. He brought great off-the-bench energy.” W ith Keilholtz out for the season and Jacobson playing in Arizona, that leaves the team a little shallow in several positions. “W ere a litde thin at die point which has been a concern for us, but Josh Lokeno has stepped up and been doing a wonderful job,” said Wegner. “It feels like were getting better. We’ve seen progress in our areas of focus.” • While the team has some areas of concern and even weakness, like the loss o f Jacobson and Keilholtz, Wegner, a three time NWAACC coach o f the year, has already taken steps to counteract them. “We recruited some sophomore transfers. Brett Ball and [Dunn] are really good kids who have some college experience to step in. We also have two lettermen posts returning, [sophomores] Aridre Dixon and Alex Loul ... so we have some good depth at the post,” said Wegner. “We’ve got some good wing back-ups for [Dunn] who is going to be a key player and Paul Walter who is a starter and co-captain at the other wing.” Even though this team has seen some adver sity so early in the season, it is shaping up to be a good year for the Cougars. W ith five sophomores in the starting lineup, they’ll be as experienced as any team they’ll race all season. W ith the range o f familiarity, skill and age that the team has* they are already setting their sights on re-daimiftg their tide as defending Southern Region champions arid taking another shot at their third NWAACC tide since 2009. Local sport organizations rely on Clackamas facilities for games By Matt Senn The Clackamas Print W ho are these strange people who are taking over our campus? All over Clackamas Community College there are sports teams made up o f youth students that look like they’re six. These teams are just a portion o f the groups that use our campus. “We have tons o f groups who use our facilities,” said Jim Martineau, C C C ath letic director. Organizations that are using the campus facilities for many events range from gymnastics or the Relay For Life to adult softball leagues. You may have seen many o f these teams playing softball or other sports on the back fields by Clairmont or a mens socccer team practicing by Dejardin. Maybe you’ve even seen a youth sports game going ori during a Saturday morning. Some students wonder, “How do I get on to that team? Does the college even have a men’s soccer team?” or “Man the college must be desperate for new enrollees/ A few d f those groups are C C C Associated Student Government, the Three Rivers and facific high school leagues, N orth Clackamas Christian HS, O C Youth Soccer, along with several soccer leagues, the Pordand Baseball Club, E O T Girls Basketball Tournaments, Oregon City Chapter o f Relay For life, dance competitions, wrestling clubs, an adult softball league and Clackamas County Miles 4 Mileage walk/run. In order for these teams to be able to use the campus, they have to go through the athletic department and Assistant Athletic Director Kayla Steen. “They contact Kayla, she lets them know what space is available and what the prices are to rent them,” said Dotty Coburn, athletic department secretary. Cobum also mentioned that Steen is in charge o f scheduling for all the organiza tions. During the fall, there are many high school cross country teams that use Clackamas because o f the college’s cen tral location and because many o f these schools dont have an area large enough for cross country. Recently the West Linn and Milwaukie High School teams have used the course. Many high schools have used Clackamas not only to hold meets, matches and games but also to use the college’s facili ties for practice purposes. “We nave used the tennis courts for practice many times and sometimes we use the gym for bas ketball practice in November,” said Bruce Reece, Oregon City High School Athletic Director. Other sports like tennis, youth soccer and the various adult leagues will most often happen on the weekends. “[These events happen] all though the year and summer, a lot [of the events] occur on weekends as well,” said Martineau. T he college often offers the facilities for use by other organizations as a way to be more involved in the community and as a great recruiting opportunity. “We get huge benefits [from] having several thousand high school athletes on our campus each year at different events. It definitely helps out with recruiting,” said Martineau. Recruiting and public involvement isn’t the only plus that Clackamas gets out o f its athletic facilities. Many o f the groups using C C C pay for the gymnasium, field or court they use. “We do charge for most events mostly to cover the cost associated,” said Martineau. “The rates for rental vary depending on several factors: W hich facility is needed? Does the event require [overtime] for custodial or campus safety? Does the event require a supervisor from the college? We don’t charge the youth soccer league to use the fields. If it is a charity event, we gener ally don’t charge. If we do charge it would be just to cover the cost o f the staff.” The benefits to the college run beyond money and recruiting, they’re also a service to the students. You can’t join the high school teams (you could try, but your chances are probably pretty slim) but mere are adult sports leagues and youth sports clubs that can be found online. You’re already at G C C , why not take advantage of it? Dustin Ward (left) o f the “One-Touchables” plays against a member o f Greater V N in a match held a t C C C s soccer fie ld near Roger Rook Hall.
