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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2013)
4 $ P R IN T : Sports Wednesday, Feb. 6,2013 The Oregon advantage A .M . SPORTS ■AndrewMillbrooke Sports Editor “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to w in." 81 - Bob Knight With college football signing ' day upon us, we have the first real test for new Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich since tak- T- ing over for Chip Kelly in late January. The big question is, will Helfrich and company be able to land the coveted four and five star recruits that Kelly brought in? The rise o f Chip Kelly from collegiate assistant coach to the | | hottest NFL coaching prospect was nothing short o f r e m a rk a b le .; Kelly went from a $200,000 per - year job as offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2007, to making upwards o f $4 million per year from the Philadelphia Eagles, just - a short six years later. One thing that many failed to remember during all the gio- ; rification o f Kelly and his run o f four straight BCS games is that this Oregon program existed and succeeded long before Chip - Kelly ever set foot on Oregon soil. The field is named fach | Brooks field, because he brought the Ducks from mediocrity inf ," the early 1980s to a Rose BowL’i appearance in 1995, before skirt- ? ing off to the NFL himself; Mike Bellotti coached the- J Joey Harrington led Dudes to a ; 38-16 Fiesta Bowl romp o w j5 > Colorado in 2002, finishing sec- < ond in the final AP rankings. Oregon would have played in the I national title game that season under the current BCS format RUNNER: Speed to burn elite runner. “He lqves track and field and he loves running,” said Letts. “He’s a division I caliber The talent that is so evident runner, he just has to mature into emerges when he steps onto The it. He has a real passion for it and track.. Although Sultessa proved he’s a worker.” to be a solid 8,000-meter runner Sultessa knows what he wants this past cross country season*, and he has .set his goals high. “My goal is run at a Division I his real talent is his raw speed. “He is the fastest kid I’ve ever school, in the 800 and 1,500,” had the opportunity to coach as said Sultessa. “I don’t know far as pure speed from 100 meters where, but definitely Division I. “ It helps that Sultessa has a tal to 5,000-meters,” said Greg Letts, a 31-year veteran coach ented team around him. Sultessa at Centennial High School in and sophomore teammate Austin Portland. Letts coached Badane Collins, from Colton, were both for four years at Centennial, within striking distance of the molding him into a state cham school record in the 800-meters pion in the 800-meters as a junior. last season, running 1:51.33 and Letts said that Sultessa could 1:51.67 respectively. Those are have been, on his 4x100 relay the second and fourth fastest as a freshman, a spot reserved times in CCC history. The school for thè four fastest guys' o n . the record from 1984 is 1:50.9 by Yul team. “Early on he would just run Provancha. to w in/’ said Letts. “He would “He’s definitely got guys sit back and rely on his speed.” to work with,” said Mantalas. Letts is more than just a coach to “Badane is just a step ahead in Sultessa,. - . ’ fitness right now. If everybody “He was my first coach and stays healthy these guys can run because of him I started run some great times. I think Austin ning,” said Sultessa. “He’s not can break the school record in just a coach, he’s like my dad. the 800 this year and Badane will He helped me with everything. probably lower it next year.” I didn’t even speak English at Sultessa has big plans for his that time.” Sultessa didn’t focus final year of eligibility. “I’m not on training to be a great runner down to lose at anything during at first, but a little bit of success my third year,” said Sultessa. “I’m not going to be scared of changed that. “Until my'junior year, I didn’t anybody, no matter what their know anything about running and times are. I’m shooting for the I didn’t take it seriously,” said school records next year in the Sultessa. “My focus was just on 800 and 1,500.” winning. After I won at state my Those are lofty goals, as both junior year, I started taking it seri the 800-meter and 1,500-meter ous and working out every day.” school records date to 1984. The Letts is certain that Sultessa 1,500-meter recofd held by 1988 has what it takes to succeed as an Olympian Brian Abshire is a scin Continued from Page 1 Badane Sultessais eyeing Clackamas ’school records in the 800 and 1,500 meter runs. Sultessa is redshirting this spring and will have sophomore eligibility to compete in cross country and track next year. . tillating 3:45.5, or the equivalent of 4-minute mile pace. Sultessa has already been receiving looks from Division I schools that be covets. “It’s cool to talk to schools in the Pac-12 that know who he is and what he’s doing,” said Mantalas. “He has the opportunity to compete in the finals of the NCAA’s in a couple years with everything he’s doing now and the way he’s progressing.” The only question for Sultessa may be at what distance he will be best. “He’s definitely got a large range, as far as, being able to run fast in. everything from 400-meters all the way up to 8,000-meters,” said Clackamas head track and field coach Keoni McHone. In addition to his strong 800- meter time, Sultessa has run 48 seconds for 400-meters, 3:56.61 in the 1,500-meters, and 25:25 for 8,000-meters while placing fourth in the NWAACC cross country championships last fall. All of those times are fantastic for a college freshman. McHone sees Sultessa as a fixture miler, while Letts thinks the 5K will be his race. Badane considers himself an 800/1,500- meter guy and Mantalas thinks he can run everything fast. It doesn’t seem to matter what the distance, just know that Badane Sultessa is going to run fast. “A year from now Badane’s a different guy,” said Mantalas. “I think he can run crazy fast next fall in cross country.” BcUotti led the D ucks to a 21-3 seasons. So, although Kelly brought I the program to unprecedented heights, the Ducks w o e good; before he got here and they will be good after he leaves. I believe Mark Helfrich will be a big part o f that Oregon bom and bred, Helfrich is in his dream job and unlike Kelly, I don’t see him heading off to the NFL or any other college anytime soon.- Helfrich is in his ultimate job - right now. Helfrich grew up in Coos --"I Bay and attended Marshfield High School, before a record- ■ setting career as a quarterback | at Southern Oregon University. Helfrich earned NA1A all- American honors before jumping right into coaching after college. Helfrich has earned the right to his dream job. Helfrich, 39, was the young est offensive coordinator in the nation at a BCS school when Colorado hared him in 2006 at . age 32. Now, Helfrich is pofa^H to lead the program with the best owner in all o f college sports (thanks, Uncle Phil) for the next three decades. Oh, arid about that old recruit ing thing. I think Helfrich will be just fine as long as the Oregon coaching staff stays intact. One o f the main reasons for the Dudes’ continued success for the past 2 0 1 years has been a core group o f coaches that remain in Eugene. These guys-have seen first-hand as the program rose into great-» ness from a very deep and?da j t t place. - ‘ J ‘ , .-.^y Running backs coachG ari|8 Campbell, the senior member o f the staff, has been in Eugene for 30 years. Strength and con- i ditioning coach Jim Radcliffe (28), offensive line coach an d /t running game coordinator Steve Greatwood (26), defensive coor- dinator Nick Aliotti (21) and line- ., backers coach Don Pellurn i^ W have all been at Oregon Sff moKP than 20 years. Experience brings results. O n j signing day, let’s hope that some o f the nation’s top recruits think so. -----Idaho’s Connor Pelzel during his convincing 11-4 decision at __ _____ pounds on Jan. 19 in Randall gym. Andrew Millbrooke Sports Editor. The Clackamas wrestling team will be gunning for a-third straight title as they host the Region T8 Championships beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Randall gym. Region rivals hlqrth idäho and Northwest College have beat en the Cougars in dual matches earlier in the season and both look capable of unseating tbe Cougars from their throne, £ ■ “It’s awesome in the sense that you get to compete in front o f friends, family and teammates,” said Clackamas head coacb Josh Rhoden. “But at the same point, as a coach, when we’re on the road in the hotel, I have a little more control over everything. Hopefully, guys are getting the sleep they need the night before and staying focused.” Rhoden pointed out that Region 18 is the only region in the country to boast three nation al championship teams from the past 10 years. No. 3 Clackamas, No. 1 North Idaho and No. 7 Northwest College have com- bined to win four of the past 12 national championships. “Northwest College jo in e d s the region this year and they have a strong tradition of wres tling, winning the 2004 National Championship,” said Rhoden. “They could get in there and make some noise as far as con tending for a region title.” Rhoden talked about some of the great depth that Region 18 has in most o f the weight classes. “Our region is so good, you are going to see a lot o f good matchups,” said Rhoden. “The downside to that is there are some pretty good kids that don’t get to go to nationals.” The top four finishers at each weight class qualify for nationals. “We have a really deep weight class at 125 pounds,” said Rhoden. “Whoever gets through there will be tough. All four of the top guys have beaten up on each other.” Beau Roberts, ranked No. 4 in the nation for Clackamas, faces a tough test in the 149 pound class, which has three of the top four ranked wrestlers in the nation. “I’m really looking forward to it,” said Roberts. “I’ve wrestled all three guys who are ranked in my weight class. Lift excited to ., get some redemption, and go in and battle with those guys.” k Roberts thinks it is an advan tage competing in* such a tough region. “We have the toughest guys in our region,” said Roberts. “It gives us an edge, because we have to work that much harder to get out of our region to get to nationals.” The Rivalry The featured matchup in the region is in the 174 pound weight class. The top two ranked wrestlers in the nation get to continue a rivalry dating to last season in the 174 pound class. “That’s obviously going to be a great one at 174, because those guys are ranked first and sec ond in the country,” said Rhoden. “TrentjustgottheN o. 1 spot with the new ranking that came out.” Noon beat Sweedman twice last year, before losing a 1-0 match earlier this year at North Idaho. Sweedman made it to the national finals last season, settling for second place, while Noon finished fourth. Noon won U 5' payback two weeks ago, defeat ing then No. 1 tanked Sweedman 3-0 in a home match to regain the tqp ranking. “I beat, him both times pretty good last year,” said Noon. “Then I wrestled him this year at his place when I had strep throat the night before and he ended up beating me 1-0 on riding time. He caught me one time and that is not going to happen again.” Noon is confident and happy to have the top ranking going into regionals, but the pressure is on to hold on to it for nationals. “It’s not pressure; it’s expecta tion to win,” said Noon. “I like having the No. 1 spot, people have to come beat me. They are more worried about me than I am about them. That’s the way I look at it.” Noon did give his props to Sweedman for always giving h im a tough match. “He’s been tough, he’s long and lanky like I am,” said Noon. “When we get in a scramble for position, he can roll around with me just as well as I can roll with him, so that is what makes our matches so good.”
