P R IN T : Sports
Wednesday, Oct. 10,2012
J
Woods leads Cougar volleyball
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor
The Clackamas Community
College women’s volleyball team
has had its share o f ups and downs
over the years, but the one con
stant, for three decades now, has
been head coach Kathie Woods.
Woods, in her 30th season at
the helm o f the CCC volleyball
program, is no stranger to success
either. She has compiled more than
700 career victories and has been
named Southern Region Coach o f
the Year four times and NWAACC
Coach o f the Year three times.
“Her teams are always very
competitive,
always
solid,”
said CCC Athletic Director Jim
Martineau.
“More importantly,
she puts out great student athletes.”
This season Martineau has been
to every home volleyball game
and he has a great perspective on
the volleyball program as a whole.
“She is very passionate about
volleyball, her teaching position
and her student athletes,” said
Martineau. “She’s a great coach
and she does a tremendous job
o f developing young women.”
Woods has seen countless ath
letes move on to four year universi
ties and she stays in close contact
with many o f her former players. All
four o f her current assistant coaches
were once student-athletes at CCC.
“It’s an honor and privilege to
have them come back to help out
with the program,” said Woods.
One reason many athletes stay
close to thé’ program after they
leave school is the disciplined envi
ronment and family atmosphere
that Woods, has created at CCC.
“Our philosophy at the com
munity college level is com
munity first around here,” said
Woods. “We have a lot o f talent
and good coaches in this area.”
Woods also preaches a phi
losophy o f going above and
beyond scholastically. Her play
ers must adhere to certain disci
plines in school; they must intro
duce themselves to the instructor,
sit in the front row, and have no
cell phone activity during class.
Sophomore Brittney Bevens goes up fo r a spike attempt in a Sept. 26 match
against Linn-Benton. The Cougars lost three games to one in the match.
Bevens leads the Cougars with 247 kills and a 21 percent average on the
season.
“We don’t just say it,” said
Woods. “We practice it.” Her team
has earned an American Volleyball
Coaches
Association
Team
Academic Award in six o f the last
nine seasons. Thepasttwoyears, her
teams have compiled a 3.45 GPA.
“When I heard her say 1100 per
cent in school, volleyball, and life’,
that was it for me,” said sophomore
Maeghan Angel o f McMinnville
on why she chose Clackamas.
“That’s exactly what I wanted. She
is the kind o f coach that will push
you and I wanted to improve.”
fi
Her teams are always
very competitive, very
solid. More impor
tantly, she puts out
great student ath
letes. ”
Jim Martineau
CCC Athletic Director
Angel is one o f 10 girls
from Oregon high schools
on the squad, as Woods has
focused recruiting efforts locally.
“We know about them more.
We’ve watched them play in high
school and seen them at camps,
so it is easier to recruit locally,”
said Woods. That familiar back
ground and the amount o f time
they spend together during the
season forces these girls to bond.
“We are really close,” said
Angel. “We start our season in July
and we are together all the time. We
are a tight knit group, like family.”
This season, the Cougars (13-
18) are still trying to recover from
an early season eight-match los
ing streak that stretched almost
a week long and included three
road trips and three home games.
The Cougars rebounded with a
six-match win streak in the middle
o f September and have been fight
ing to get back to .500 since then.
“We are streaky,” said Woods.
“We play young and we are incon
sistent.” Woods is confident that her
team will work out the kinks and
play more as a team as they settle in
for a long stretch o f home games and
no more long distance travelling.
“We try to do most o f our
travelling before school starts,”
said Woods. “We can focus on
school and volleyball now.”
Almost every' player on the
team has stepped up this season
to lead the team at times, but they
have not done it together con
sistently. Woods had glowing
praise for the group as a whole.
“This group excels in the class
room, they excel as people in life,
and they work hard,” said Woods.
“You can’t find girls with bet
ter integrity or character, but we
need better focus on the court.”
Woods has changed some o f the
practice routine and incorporated
newdrillstotryto bring thatfocusout.
“As soon as we all come togeth
er, we will be strong,” said Woods.
“They all have shown the ability
to step up this season and they all
have, at times. I believe the sec
ond half o f league season we will
show some drastic improvement.”
In addition to all o f the success
on the court and in the classroom,
Woods instills discipline in all fac
ets o f life in her young players
by fostering community relations.
The currentteam has supplement
ed its fundraising efforts by helping
out former players at weddings and
parties over the past few summers.
“The alumni know that we
will work hard,” said Woods.
“They would rather have us do
it than strangers.” ' The volley
ball team also hosts team camps
and individual skills camps
for junior high and high school
age players during the summer.
“We do a lot o f fundraising to
get the extras,” said Woods. “The
girls like things and they know
they have to go out and earn them.”
The Cougars host the Linfield
JV team at 7 p.m. tonight at Randall
Hall before heading out on their
last significant road trip o f the
season to the Pierce Crossover in
Lakewood, Wash. Oct. 12 and 13.
The Cougars return home for
Sponsor Night on Oct. 19 and Dig
Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) on
Oct. 20. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
COACH: Cross country hosts home meet Friday
Continued from Page 1
Grace Viuhkola, a sophomore
from Hood River, Ore., was the
number one runner for the women
last season and is finally rounding
into form this year.
“Grace had a little bit o f a
rocky summer,” said Mantalas.
“I’m really excited to see her com
ing into her own. She’s incredibly
talented.”
Sophomore Randi Chance
and freshmen Joanna Feeney and
Dawn Hilley round out the wom
en’s scoring runners. The men’s
team is deep and talented with nine
guys fighting to be among the top
seven.
“The m en’s cross country
team is really good this year,”
said Martineau. “They have good
depth. A lot o f guys that ran well
in track last spring are running
well now.”
Two freshmen have stepped up
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to lead the men early this season.
Badane Sultessa and Jon Obeso
have both transitioned well to rac
ing at longer distances than they
ever have before.
“Badane’s an 800/1,500 guy,”
said Mantalas. - “H e’s never
thought o f him self as a 5k/10k
cross country guy.”
Sultessa
and Obeso both ran their first
8k o f their life in Seattle at the
Sundodger Invitational on Sep. 15.
Sultessa finished 16th overall
in an impressive 25:30.63 clock
ing while Obeso finished 45th in
26:09.03. Sultessa is still mentally
getting used to racing 5.1 miles.
“It’s not fun,” said Sultessa.
“It’s vety tiring.” Obeso feels he
was ready for the longer distances
coming out o f high school.
“My high school coach pre
pared me well,” said Obeso. “I
feel stronger in the longer races.”
Last year’s top runner, sopho
more Mark Medgin, was forced
to take some time off right at the
WEDNESDAY-10/10
THURSDAY-10/11
• CCC Volleyball:
• Intram ural
S o ccerd 2-2:00 pm
vs Unfield J V
at 7 pm in Randall
Gym.
at CCC soccer field
next to Hwy. 213
OBESO
end o f summer with a slight knee
tweak, but has been rounding back
into form o f late.
“The last week and a half, he’s
become the M ark Medgin we
know,” said Mantalas. “I expect
him to move back up the ranks and
assert himself as one o f our lead
ers.” Sophomore Jorge Gil-Juarez
would be among the top runners,
but an injury forced him to redshirt
this season.
The men’s team has a solid
FRIDAY10/12
'
SATURDAY-10/13
• Flag Football:
• CCC Volleyball:
11 30 1 30pm in the fields
next to Hwy. 213.
at Piercd Crossover
Tournament in
Lakewood, Wash.
• M ike Hodges
Cross C o un try In
v ita tio n a l a t CCC:
3:30pm - Women
4:15pm - Men
• CCC W omen’s
S occer: 12pm at
Everrett CC in Everett,
Wash.
grouping o f runners providing
depth behind the top three. The
Cougars finished 12th o f 22 teams
at Sundodger.
Seven runners all finished
w ithin one-m inute o f each
other: freshman Tony Gil-Juarez
(26:49.52), sophomore Austin
Collins (27:10.23), Mark Medgin
(27:11.24), sophomore Zach Hibbs
(27:22.93), freshman Austin Peila
(27:30.74), freshman John Doyle
(27:47.51), and sophomore Chris
Stash (27:48.81).
Sophomore
Jordan Grimes will be in the mix
as well.
With five runners scoring in
cross country and seven running in
championship races, the Cougars
have plenty o f options to go to
during the most important meets
o f the season that are coming up.
Obeso was confident that they
will be ready because o f the great
workouts Mantalas has prepared.
“H e’s a great coach,” said
Obeso. “He really knows what
-SUNDAY-10/14
he’s doing.”
The cross country team hosts
its only home meet o f the season,
the Mike Hodges Cross Country
Invitational, this Friday, Oct. 12.
Oregon State, Willamette, Western
Oregon, U o f O Running Club and
most o f the local junior colleges
will be bringing teams this year.
Mantalas said he expects about
10 to 12 teams to show up on race
day.
“This year we unveiled a
new cross country course,” said
Mantalas. “It is cross counhy
only, designated for us, which is
really cool. We are excited to have
our own area.” The course is flat
and fast - run almost solely run on
grass.
The women run at 3:30 p.m.,
with the men starting at 4:15
p.m. The last two races on the
schedule are the Southern Region
Championships on Oct. 27 and
the NWAACC Championships on
Nov. 10.
M0NDAY-10/15
TUESDAY-Í0/1B