Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2013)
ß PRINT-- Sports Wednesday, November 13,2013 Just ï keep running I IPORTI FOR M B B K Kt NBWftf BrittanyHome Co-Editor-in-Chief Hie cross country season is com ing to a close, but why not take advan tage o f an opportunity to learn about the sport for next year? The concept and practice of competitive open-air running is prehistoric, and the cardio exercise during practice or a race is greatly beneficial to your body. Now", would be the perfect time to start training for next season, or start with track and field which is a spring sport The objective o f cross country is to run long distances across rugged or natural terrain, competing against other runners to cross the finish line first Participants in the “meet” run ,ay total o f four to 12 kilometers across flat land, gravel, hills, woodlands, open fields of grass and more. It is usually a fall or winter sport, taking place in a wide range of temperatures as well as during any weather condi tions. including: rain, hail, wind, sun or snow. Cross country coach Keoni McCone makes the goal very clear. “It’s basically a sport where peo ple try to outrun each other, and then there are team tactics that are used as well,” said McCone, One common team tactic is to group the athletes who run a similar pace together. The technique encour- ages runners to motivate and pull each other through a race. But how do you become a cross country' athlete in the first place? CCC’s top male runner, Jorge Gil- Juarez, is passionate about the sport and encourages others to give it a try, “Give something a chance, because if you don’t, you wont find out if you’ll wind up loving it,” said Gil-Juarez. “ This is perfect. Just go out on a trail and come back more relaxed.” * After deciding to get involved with cross country, training begins. This means base training, or going out and running a lot o f miles. An ath lete must commit to running multiple miles every day, utilizing a variety o f mutes and terrain. Simply running, and running and running some more should be at least 25 percent o f your top-end effort The mission is not only to run long distances, but to run faster than the competition. “A lot o f the research shows that the more mileage you run, the faster you run,” said McCone. Cross country is both an individu al and a team sport Awards are given to the team with the fewest points (calculated by adding the teams’ fin ishing scores together) as well as to the individual athletes who cross the finish line first Success depends on dedication to be the best as well as aa‘ ability to work as a team and encour age each other. Working closely with your team can be beneficial when training gets tough. “Just take it one day at a time,” said Gil-Juarez. “Find a friend that likes doing what you do so you don’t have to do it alone.” I think the individual challenge, teamwork and physical benefit ofi running are the key to cross coun try’s long history and growth as a sport Although its likeness existed before, the rules and traditions o f ; cross country emerged from Britain. The English championship began in 1876, the first national competition, followed by the International Cross Country Championships in 1903, The sport progressed until it became part o f the Olympics, but only took place in 1912,1920 and 1924. A heat wave in Paris resulted in only 15 o f 38 runners reaching the finish line during the 1924 Summer Olympics. The other 23 competitors suffered from heat stroke, fainted, blacked out or suffered from some other form of unconsciousness. The spectators were shocked and tire Olympic officials decided to ban cross country from future Olympic Games, although U similar run is part o f the pentathlon. Despite obstacles that had to be overcome, cross country is still a growing sport The USA Cross Country Championships have been held since 1890 and include six races. : More recently, The USA Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships had its start in 2002. The USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, first held in 2001, have races for boys and girls in five two-year age divisions. Could it be possible that cross country will soon be an Olympic sport again? Thank you for learning about Cross Country with me tins week. Feel free to let us know what you think about the sport or if you have been inspired to start a new hobby at w'W'w'.theelackamasprinLnet. Seasoned Cougars vs. N ew com ers B eing a C ougar is som ething to take pride in. F riday n ight the m en ’s basketball team scrim m aged form er m em bers o f C CC basketball, and the alum ni proved once a C ougar alw ays a C ougar in an exciting and com petitive exhibition at R andall Hall. The alum ni team com prised form er S outhern reg io n cham p io n s, N W A A C C cham p io n s and players w ho continued col lege ball after CCC. Som e w ere recently on the team and som e graduated over a decade ago. The m ix w as interesting and enter taining. It w as a good gam e all around, but C C C ’s current squad dom i n ated th e friendly m atch. The first h a lf w as C C C ’s best, w ith quite a few useful defensive and offensive rebounds. T he younger team show ed th eir h ard training and team w ork. Pow erful plays by Tim L ot w ere som e o f the highlights during the first half, a slam -dunk being one o f them . A nthony R ussel o f C C C scored the final shot o f the first h a lf w ith a three p ointer at the buzzer. CCC w as ahead 46 - 32. In the second h a lf the action w as even m ore com petitive as the alum ni gained leverage w ith som e spot-on plays. Som e o f the alum ni tea m ’s m om entum w as due to consistent three-pointers. T hey w ere able to accum ulate 30 points out o f 18 attem pts in the second half. C C C seem ed to still battle and p u t together great plays, b u t the alum ni had a slight edge in the second. The alum ni garnered 55 points in the second h a lf to C C C ’s 50, a n im pressive com eb ack after the first half, b u t n o t enough to redeem it. C CC w on 96-87 against the very gam e alum ni. L eading in points Friday night w as alum nus Justin Steinke, earn ing 33 points w ith eight successful three-pointers out o f 13 attem pts. F o r the current C ougars, M itchell B eckw ith earned 18 p oints w ith tw o nice three-pointers out o f th ree attem pts. B eck w ith w as follow ed closely by L ott, w ho accrued 17 p oints including a couple o f solid slam -dunks. T he last preseason scrim m age w as a fun ice-breaker to fore shadow the 2013-14 season. The C ougars retu rn to R andall for th eir first gam e o f the season as they face C oncordia U niversity JV at 7 p.in. this com ing Friday. —Compiled by David Beasley W re s t I i ng re c a p The C lackam as C ougars w res tling team im proved to 2-0 on the season beating N C A A D ivision 2 Sim on F ra se r U n iv ersity o f V ancouver, B .C ., 33-12 last Saturday. The C ougars dom inat ed the visiting C anadians by w in ning seven o f 10 m atches. SFU started strong at 125 pounds as Skylor D avis pinned C lackam as’ K am ron D ay in 1:43, but C C C cam e back and w on the next four bouts. C ary Palm er led the m om entum by defeating S F U ’s Sukhan C hahal 17-0 at 135 lbs. in a technical fall. C lackam as w ould streak three m ore con secu tiv e w in s w h e n L aw rence O tero at 141 lbs. and E leazar D eluca at 151 lbs. beat their opponents 12-2 and 24-9 respectively. The 149 lbs. K enny M artin did not w restle for C lackam as this evening but still picked up a w in as SFU forfeited at the w eight class. A t 165 pounds, S F U ’s B rock L am b w as able to edge out C C C ’s K yle B atem an in a 7-5 overtim e decision but C lackam as w ould still keep their m om entum going despite the close loss. D ustin H arris pinned S F U ’s C ody C oom bes in 1:53 at the 174 lbs. class w hile C C C ’s 184 lbs. A drian Salas beat Joshua K im 5-0. C lackam as’ fin ai dom inat ing victory cam e by a 13-0 m ajor decision as the 197 lbs. Ihogham a O dighizuw a m anhandled S F U ’s R yan Yewchin. Sim on Fraser capped the event o ff w ith a w in at 285 as A rjun G ill defeated B randon Johnson, but the 8-3 w in did not earn enough points to com e close to C lackam as’ perform ance on the day. T his w as the first hom e m eet o f th e season for C lackam as and the second m onster perfor m ance in a row com ing o f f last w e ek ’s 34-6 w in over Sim pson U niversity in the SF State O pen in R edding, Calif. C lackam as is currently six th in the N JC A A m en ’s w restling poll w ith 65.5 points. O n Sunday the C ougars trav eled to F o re st G rove, O R. to Pacific U niversity’s M ike C lock O pen w restling tournam ent. The m en p u t on a strong show ing w ith w restlers appearing in four tournam ent finals and w inning tw o class titles. A drian Salas battled his w ay to w in the 184 lbs. w eight class in Forest grove in w ith a string o f m atches that included a close 9-8 victory over S tanford’s G arrett K rohn. Salas capped o ff the day beating Stanford’s M ike Sojka by a 6-2 decision. C lac k a m a s’ K en n y M a rtin also had his share o f success w in n ing the 149 lbs. w eight class. M artin started o ff strong picking up a p in fall and a 13-5 m ajority decision on his w ay in the finals. M artin w o n the bracket in a fall after 56 seconds o f w restling w ith O regon State.’s R eed VanAnrooy. In th e 197 lbs. to urnam ent Ihoghw am a O dighizuw a w ould dom inate his w ay to the finals by picking up a pin fall and a m ajor decision. T he effort w ould w as n o t be enough to beat O regon S tate’s Taylor M eeks in the finals as M eeks defeated O dighizuw a 14-0. C ary P alm er did not have a bye in the 133 lbs. bracket but w as able to reach the tournam ent finals. P a lm e r w as d o m inant early on in his effort picking up four big w ins, one by pinfallpin fall and three by decision. In the finals the P alm er w ould w as not be able to keep up w ith O regon S ta te ’s D rew V anA nrooy w ho had a first round bye in the brack et. V anA nrooy d efeated Palm er in the finals in a close 5-3 bout. —Compiled by Chris Browarski Men ’s Basketball head coach C lif Wegner motivates his team members (left to right) Anthony Russell, Chartes Smith III and Austin Harris prepare. Blazermania Zak Laster Ad Manager There’s no better feeling for a sports fen than the home opener for his favorite team. The excite ment o f waking up, donning the jersey o f a favorite player and get ting ready for the big game can’t be matched for any sports fen. W ith the Portland Trail Blazers being Oregon’s longest-operating major-league sports team, the level o f fen enthusiasm for the Blazers is always off the charts. W herever you go in Portland, you’re bound to find someone sporting a Blazers T-shirt, jersey or h a t Blazers fans have had to endure m any rough eras o f bas ketball through the years. Ever since their last trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2000, against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Blazers have yet to make it past the first round. The closest they have come since winning the championship in 1977 was their championship losses in 1990 to Detroit and 1992 to Chicago. This 2013 team has fens excit ed that this may finally be the year they see their team not only make the playoffs, but possibly even get out o f the first roundL Team officials have added sev eral young, talented players such as Damian Lillard and Thomas Robinson, whom they hope will lead the team to a championship in the near future. This is a franchise that loves its team win or loss. Blazers fans, or Rip City, as they’re called, have a reputation for being one o f the loudest, wildest fan bases in the entire National Basketball Association. Prices for games are very reasonable, and despite the city’s love for the team, tickets can be veiy easy to come by. One o f the best methods for going to a Blazers game is to wait until the day o f the game. Unless it’s one o f the more popular oppo nents, like the Miami Heat, winch .are likely to sell out, some o f the best ticket deals can be found at 5:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p m . game. I f you’re willing to gamble, it can be one o f the best ways to save a few dollars at the game. Always be constantly check ing StubHub or Craigslist While it’s always easier to purchase tickets from fee Blazers’ website, the better deals are found through these ticket resale websites for less desirable games. But i f your goal is to watch the home team, regardless o f opponent, you’re guaranteed to get a better deal for prime seating. A lot o f season ticket holders post their less desir able game tickets on these web sites for prices that are lower than fece value. The gamble referred to earlier is that the longer you wait before tip-off, the lower the prices wi 11 go because at that point sellers are just trying to get what they can for them. Once you arrive at the Moda Center, the first line you will want to hit is the concession stand. A hot dog and a beer is a must for any Blazers fen over 21. The best bear stand is the Pyramid Bar, just be ready to overpay. A t $10 a beer, things can add up fast If the line for Pyramid beer is too long, it’s recommended you try walking into the actual restaurant and standing at that side o f the bar. M ost people don’t realize they have servers on that side too that will assist you and you’ll be able to get to your seat much faster. In the ofi-season, the team announced new features and options to improve the fen expe rience at games this year. The Blazers added popular new food options such as Fire On The Mountain Buffalo wings and Sizzle Pie. The arena is also equipped with free Wi-Fi for fens to enjoy, although the quality o f Wi-Fi signal is not that impres sive. As far as fan experience goes, the Blazers arena ranks high as one o f the best places to watch a game. It’s definitely recom mended for any basketball fan young and old. The Blazers do a great job o f incorporating the fans into the game such as a remote-controlled blimp drop ping envelopes containing cou pons for free prizes, or on-court fan contests. "When the Blazers are winning, they’re usually danc ing in foe aisles during timeouts, or jum ping out o f their seats after an explosive dunk You just w on’t find the passion and excitement to be as intense anywhere else. These Portland Trail Blazers fens have experi enced succcsslul teams in the past but have had a string o f bad luck roster decisions, whether it be the Jail Blazer era or choosing to pass on drafting Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant for injury prone Sam Bowie and Greg Oden. But after all that, it appears that this team is ready for many successful years ahead. These Blazers are a team that the city and fens can be proud of. Hopefully, they will give this city what they’ve been waiting for, another N B A championship. The city is ready to party like it’s 1977.
