September 2016
SPORTS
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
Three sports show great potential at Wilson High School this year
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
A trio of Wilson High School sports
— boys cross country, boys soccer,
and girls volleyball — are leading the
charge as we begin the fall 2016 season.
While each has its challenges and
goals, these three have tremendous
potential, according to athletic director
Mike Easton. Here’s the breakdown:
Wilson girls volleyball coach Peter
Fukuchi grew up and played volleyball
in Hawaii. He talked about ohana
— a Hawaiian word which loosely
translated means building culture,
building family, creating camaraderie,
caring, culture and sisterhood.
“This is a brand new team,” he said.
“We’re young and solid and I’m excited
about continuing the spirit of ohana
with this group. Last year, we really
gelled and went on to become league
champions.
With just four team members
returning from last year’s squad —
Rachel Hunt, Jane Woodward, Saioa
Lostra and India Jones — Coach
Fukuchi has his work cut out for him.
“Our offense has power, but our
defense is something we’ll need to
really work on this season,” he said.
Boys varsity soccer team has
something to prove this season
Varsity boys soccer Coach Frank
Mathews (also a Wilson social studies
teacher) is very excited about the
upcoming soccer season because 19
players are returning from last year’s
team.
Mathews said he has a great group
of seniors who are determined to work
their hardest in the pre-season to ensure
that they have a successful season and
run in the playoffs.
According to Mathews, the team’s
mantra this season is that they need
to prove it. They are not one of the
schools one automatically thinks of at
the top of the 6A state standings, but
this season they feel they belong in the
conversation.
Mathews said they are confident in
their abilities, but they need to go out
there and play hard and win all those
close games against good competition
that were lost last season.
Like last season, their schedule is
very competitive, said Mathews. There
are no easy games and each match is
going to be hard fought.
In the pre-season and in the Portland
Interscholastic League, they will have
to be mentally and physically ready to
play each game because the quality of
play is so high against each team, said
Mathews.
According to Mathews, some players
of note to look out for this season
include senior Alec Dunkeld, who was
the leading scorer last season. Junior
Tyson Horn is center midfielder with
a knack for the goal; field captain and
defender Sam Nathenson is a strong
leader.
Speed, performance and talent
drive the boys cross country
team
They are the returning PIL champions
and have the returning PIL individual
champion.
According to Coach Thor Esbensen,
the boys cross country team hopes to
be in the top five at state. Esbensen
said he hopes with some good fortune
and hard work that they can be a
contending team.
The boys return with Alex Slenning,
junior, 8th at last year’s state meet and
Wilson High School's boys cross country team trains constantly in all kinds of terrain.
(Photo courtesy of Wilson High School)
the number three returner. He had a
great track season and broke the school
record in the 3000.
Senior Caleb Seely also returns. Seely
was PIL runner-up in cross country and
broke the school record in the 1500 and
800 in track this past season. According
to Esbensen, junior Kian Mitchell had
a break-out track season and is a top
returner.
Elius Graff will be competing in
cross country full time this year after
splitting time with soccer last year, said
Esbensen. Aidan Manley, senior, also
had a break out season in track and
will be entering his second season of
cross country.
“Alex and Caleb have developed
incredibly fast and are tremendously
talented athletes. They should be at the
top of most races they run this fall,” said
Esbensen.“We have entered our team
in many top meets. We are going to try
and gain experience by going to the
state’s biggest meets,” said Esbensen.
According to Esbensen, one of
the biggest team strengths is the
community and parent support and
involvement. Parent groups are quick
to set up camping trips, spaghetti
dinners, team sleepovers and weekend
trips to out-of-state meets.
Without their support many great
team-building activities would
not happen, he said. The team and
community epitomizes the saying, “It
takes a village.”
“We have had a strong summer and
our team motto’s of the building storm
and confidence, strength, desire will
drive us this season,” said Esbensen.
“With our top two athletes and three
of our top seven returning from a
breakout season last year and a flood of
hard-working younger runners coming
along, we anticipate great things.”
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