(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.